Neo Shinobi
by Morlin
Summary: 19 years after the Akatsuki's fall it is time for a new generation to step forward and find its place in the world. But with new heroes comes new threats. Are the heirs of the Uzumaki and Uchiha clans ready to face the lurking danger? AU DiscUnFuNotice
1. The day before the beginning

1

**Author's notes**: This is my first fic so please, no flaming. If you want to give constructive criticism go ahead, I welcome it.

Besides the original characters, of which there're a lot of in this story, I own nothing Naruto-related. If I did would I really be writing this story?

This is a new generation story. I hope you will enjoy it and now I leave you to read the first chapter of Neo Shinobi.

**1. The day before the beginning**

The sound of knocking was heard from one end of the dark room. Following it was a loud mumble that basically sounded like this. "WUT!"

Light rudely made its way into the room as a door opened up, revealing a beautiful, longhaired woman in the new passage. "Honey." The woman seemed to be addressing a large lump on the bed at the other end of the room.

"Its time to get up now. Breakfast is ready and your father is getting dressed." Immediately after she finished a dark shape that resembled a young girl sprang from the bed, and slipped on the sheet she had tangled herself into.

"Are you ok?" The woman asked with a concerned voice as she bent down to check on the girl, and help her escape the sheet's tangled clutches.

"I'm fine mum. Just have to get dressed." The girl speed around the room like a bouncing ball while her mother smiled widely and opened up red drapes close to bed. Letting the room bathe in sunlight.

With the darkness now evaporated one could see that the woman was wearing light blue dress that showed of her elegant and well-developed form. Her dark hair reached down to her waist, which had a dark red sash around. Her most striking feature was her pearly white eyes that shone in the sunlight.

"It really is a beautiful day honey." She gazed out to the large village, opened the window and breathed in the fresh air before turning around.

"When you're done dressing up please wake your brother and remember to not…" Hinata stopped in mid-sentence as she saw that there was nobody besides her in the room. Sighing and quickly stepping out to the corridor she hoped to stop her daughter from doing the most forbidden action in their household.

Seeing a small blur racing in her direction from the dining room Hinata feared the worst. "Honey, wait. Please tell me you didn't…" An affectionate peck on her cheek stopped her from asking the dreaded question.

"Sorry mum. Can't talk. Gotta go to school. See ya later. Bye. Love ya." Could be heard from the blur as it speed towards a window. Hinata couldn't help but smile at her daughter's antics and decides to inspect the damage.

It was as bad as she expected. Both the bowls of ramen she had made for breakfest were completely empty. "Maybe I can make a new one before he gets here." But before she could even pick up the two bowls her blonde haired husband entered the room.

"_Oh dear."_ Was all Hinata managed to think before all hell broke lose.

* * *

She could hear her father's wrathful roar as she gleefully and gracefully leaped from the roof of her family's building to the next one. All while filling the air with screams of joy. It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining brightly and the village of the Hidden Leaf looked unusually calm today.

Mornings like this were the greatest thing in the world to the girl named Uzumaki Konki.

The girl in question had long, spiky, blonde hair and was a shade or two darker than her father's, and pearly white eyes that signified her Hyuuga heritage. She was wearing a bright yellow overcoat, a white shirt with a red spiral on the chest, black pants and finally a light green bracelet on her right wrist.

As she jumped from rooftop to rooftop more and more of the citizen's of Kohona began to emerge from their houses to greet the day in their own fashion, and to wave to Konki as she zipped by. The villagers absolutely loved Konki, because while she could be as rambunctious as her father was as that age she still acted very politely to her elders and had a charming smile that positively shined with friendliness.

Besides the love of the villagers she also differed from her father in that her all-too-clear happiness was not a mask to hide her own insecurities. She was genuinely joyful and loved to show it. She also liked going to the academy to learn how to become a proper shinobi. Getting to the academy on time is actually her very reason for running, jumping, twirling and bouncing like a stylish maniac across the ceilings of Konoha.

But her present destination was not the ninja academy of Konoha. It was the home of her best friend and the second most powerful man currently living in the village.

Landing outside the complex that had once belonged to one of the most powerful clans in the world, Konki took a deep breath and put on her calm face.

She did this out of respect for the residents of the Uchiha complex. They did not appreciate it when hyperactive kunoichis in training disturbed their first meal of the day.

* * *

Uchiha Sasuke was not used to taking orders, regardless of who had issued them, even if it was the Hokage. In fact, he was especially unused to take orders from the Hokage, at least the current one. And he was most certainly not used to taking orders while only wearing his favourite black morning robe.

So when the twelve year old, barely awake girl he called his daughter told him to open the door, like he was some common servant, and let her best friend in. He was miffed, to say the least.

The only reason he followed through with it was because the incessant knocking and the argument that would have come if he had defied the "order" would take too much time away from his breakfast.

Opening the door he found exactly what he expected to find. A blonde-haired, white-eyed girl with a bright smile. Which indicated that she had no idea of the annoyance that she had caused just now?

"Good morning Sasuke-sama. Is Mikomi ready for school?" She asked while bowing before the head of the Uchiha clan.

"_She's got the "respect your elders"-thing down, that's for sure. But she's still too sunny for my taste_." He thought while glaring grumpily at her unwavering smile.

He took a zip from the cop of coffee he had carried along with him before answering.

"No she isn't ready yet Konki. In fact I don't think that any of your classmates are ready right now." His voice was a little harsher than usual in hopes of dissuading the blonde from doing what he knew was next to inevitable.

"What can I say, I just love mornings like this. Would it be ok if I came in?" Sasuke sighed inwardly at how unaffected she was by his subtle demand, and how her almost ridiculously happy smile made it impossible for him to say no to her.

"Just be quiet, Gachin and Kettou just fell asleep when we woke up." Konki silently held up her thumb and bounced past Sasuke as he allowed her entrance and he followed her, though at a much slower pace.

When he did reach the dining room Konki had already seated herself next to his daughter and was incessantly telling her to hurry up so that they wouldn't be late. Sasuke couldn't help but smirk as he watched his daughter and her friend engage in a classic match-up. The Uchiha stone-face against the babbling of the Uzumaki, the whole thing almost made him laugh silently.

Mikomi was slightly taller than Konki, she was wearing a red t-shirt with long sleeves, a black vest and grey shorts that reached slightly above her knees. Mikomi's hair was dark purple, almost black, and tied into a thick ponytail. The light green bracelet on her left wrist matched the colour of her eyes, which incidentally was the only part of her that showed how much she wanted to tell Konki to shut up and that it would take 15 minutes tops to get to the academy.

Sasuke sat down and leaned back lazily on his chair embracing what was happening before him. Because tomorrow they would both become genins and then there wouldn't many mornings like this one. He'd be lying if he said that he wouldn't miss it on some odd level of familiarity. Which is why he didn't reprimand his daughter for waking up her brothers when she finally did shout at her friend to be quiet.

* * *

About half an hour later the respective heirs of the Uzumaki and Uchiha clans were walking down the streets of Konoha. The blonde girl going through a list of exercises for the coming exams, while the purple-haired girl didn't seem to listen or care. Not that the blonde noticed anything.

"…and I think that I'm good enough with the henge so I've decided to focus most of the evening on my bunshin. That's after taijutsu training with grandfather, of course. Then, before I go to bed, I'll practice with kunai's for a few minutes." Konki turned to her companion, who seemed to be unusually gloomy today.

Being ever optimistic, Konki however figured that it was just her imagination and was certain that she would soon hear a short, but colourful triad about how she worked too hard.

"Aha. That's good." The anti-climactic comment made Konki halt in mid-step and while Mikomi kept on walking solemnly, oblivious to her friend's now paralysed state.

"What's wrong with you?!" Konki's screamed while accusingly pointing her finger at the other girl, who now was a few yards away. "Whatever do you mean?" Mikomi deadpanned, not showing any distress at her friend's raised voice and walked on as if she hadn't heard the question at all.

Fuming, the blonde girl ran past her friend and positioned herself in her path to make her stop. "Why are you stopping? I thought you wanted to get to the academy early." The comment made something snap inside Konki and the next thing to come out of her mouth scared away the birds in a nearby tree. "STOP BEING A STOIC BITCH AND TELL ME WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU!"

The two glared at each other for what seemed like an eternity. "_At least now I have her attention._" Konki thought sarcastically. Eventually Mikomi broke the stare off and mumbled. "What's it to you?"

Konki mellowed down and looked at her friend, the concern visable in her pale eyes. "You're being more reserved and angsty that you usually are. We're best friends. If there's a problem I want to help you." Konki said sincerely.

The purple-haired girl hung her head and sighed before explaining the situation with a low voice.

"You know how the Uchiha clan are renowned for their mastery of fire based jutsus." Konki nodded for Mikomi to continue. "Father has been instructing me in the subject for quite some time now, and it's not going very well." This new information surprised the daughter of the Hokage. She always assumed that her best friend would be a natural with fire jutsus.

"What are you talking about? I've seen you use that big fireball technique dozens of times." Mikomi hung her head as if she was embarrassed by the remark. "Yes, the Goukayu no jutsu. It took me two years to get it right. That was about seven months ago. Since then it seems like I can't learn other techniques of the same rank properly, and the ones with a higher ranking appear to be completely outside my grasp." Mikomi's voice was getting more and more depressed. Feeling sorry for her friend Konki draped a friendly arm across Mikomi's shoulders.

"Father says that he isn't disappointed, but I can see it in his eyes." She was on the verge of bursting out in tears now. "It's understandable that he is. As the newest generation of the Uchiha clan I'm a fai…" Before she could finish degrading herself Mikomi was smacked in the face.

"Don't you dare finish that sentence!" The white-eyed girl's face was twisted in anger as she glared into Mikomi's eyes. "Your only a failure when you give up without trying. As long as you do your best nobody has the right to call you a failure."

Konki's mood mellowed with each word. "Look, my father had the absolutely worst grades when he graduated from the ninja academy, and look at him now. Hokage of the entire village and husband to a member of the most prestigious clan said village has. Not bad for a loser huh?"

Mikomi nodded slowly and smiled a little, which gave Konki a huge grin. Happy that she had lifted her friend's spirit she wanted to continue the process. "Besides you're already in the top three when it comes to taijutsu, at least in our class, and when your sharingan activates you might even get to my level of shinobi greatness." Mikomi smirked and shook her head slightly, thinking how lucky she was to have a happy going and incurable loudmouth as a best friend.

"Whatever. Just hurry up or we really will be late for class." Konki's smile widened as she practically bounced past her best friend who speed up to not be left behind.

"By the way." Konki turned around, now bouncing backwards, to hear what her friend had to say. "You work way too hard." It wasn't as colourful as Konki was used to but it was enough to make her burst out into a fit of hearty laughter as they continued on their path.

* * *

They arrived at the academy with time to spare and since they didn't have anything special to do they decided to wait in their classroom. Surprisingly enough, at least for Mikomi, they weren't the first ones to there.

In one of the front rows sat a tall boy their age surrounded by six smiling girls, all talking animatedly about who knows what. The best way to describe the boy's appearance would be that he was blue, litterally. His trimmed hair, which was neatly combed backward and a little longer in the back, was cobalt blue and his deep eyes that one could just drown in were sky blue. The jacket he wore was dark blue with his light blue t-shirt as a contrast. Even his pants were navy blue.

The overabundance of the colour blue made him stick out. But it was the lean facial features, charming smile and friendly attitude that made Roiyaru Koudanshi a total babe to most girls in the class. Mikomi however never understood the attraction of the boy. Sure he was a nice guy and kind of pretty, but there was never anything special about him. Konki, on the other hand, was in a different camp.

"Please tell me you didn't bring me here this early just so you could ogle the blue boy." Mikomi mumbled silently, to not alert anybody to their presence, while glancing at her friend. Sadly enough Konki had lost her ability to speak as she leaned forward, with a stupid smile on her face, to get a better look at the boy in question.

The Uchiha heir hated the effect that Koudanshi had on her friend. "_Turning an intelligent and capable shinobi in the making into a drooling moron just by looking a certain way should be against the law somehow_." She said in her head before punching the daughter of the Hokage hard on the head, slamming it to the floor.

The resulting crash turned the heads of their classmates who tries to comprehend why the top ranking kunoichi in the class was lying facedown on the now cracked floorboards. "What happened?" Koudanshi asked with a genuinely concerned voice as he ran over to the blonde to check her up.

"She slipped." Mikomi deadpanned and then sighed as she watched the blue-eyed boy help her friend to stand up again. They had done this so many times throughout the years since Konki first met Koudanshi that it had become a routine.

Konki would stare at Koudanshi like an idiot, Mikomi would smack her up the head and then the blue boy would usually notice that the blonde girl had "fallen" and help her up on her feet. When Konki would notice who was touching her she would start babbling incoherently and Mikomi would drag her away while giving a confused Koudanchi some lame explanation for her friend's complete lack verbal skills.

Noticing that the aforementioned babbling had begun the she mumbled something about Konki needing fresh air. Mikomi proceeded to drag her friend to the other end of the classroom where she opened a window, to make the lie convincing, before sitting down to wait for their teacher.

Koudanshi returned to his other fangirls, whom Mikomi noticed where all smirking at the still dazed girl by her side. They knew that Konki was no threat in the war for Koudanshi's heart.

Mikomi sent a glare, daring them to continue their silent mockery of her friend. Once they meekly turned away the purple haired girl smiled widely, until she heard an unusually sad version of her friend's voice speak to her.

"I guess I made an ass of myself again." Mikomi saw no reason to hide the truth. "Pretty much. Ever thought about doing something about it?" She said while drowning a yawn.

"For four years, one month and five days." Konki sighed as she hid her face in her hands. "But every time I try to approach him I just forget how to function properly." There was a moment of silence before Mikomi asked the obvious question. "Why?"

"Because he's perfect. He's nice, smart, funny, skilled and have you seen how hot he is." She whispered the last part. Mikomi blinked before she started to count down on her fingers while talking.

"He's seen the way you act around him for four years now without realising how you feel, so he can't be that smart. I've never heard him make a single joke in all those years, not even lame attempts at one. When it comes to looks he's just too blue for my taste. But he is nice, overly so if you ask me." Mikomi suppressed a laugh at Konki's wide-open mouth and fisted hands.

"You are right about his skills though. If I'm not mistaken he's your only real rival for top of the class, right?" The blonde girl merely nodded while gazing dreamily at her object of affection.

"Well, in two days time you won't have to see him anymore." Mikomi took a sadistic satisfaction in Konki's horrified expression. "Unless you end up on the same team as him." Konki's face twisted itself from happiness at the notion of spend extra time with her crush, and terror at how she would humiliate herself in front of him constantly.

"Or she could be lucky and end up on the same squad as me." An arrogant male voice said behind them. Mikomi grumbled a swearword before turning around to face the most annoying human being that has ever lived, if you asked Mikomi that is.

The boy was their age. His dark brown hair was spiky, with most of the "spikes" pointing down. He was wearing a white jacket with a grey hood, a beige t-shirt and black pants. His eyes were a much duller shade of brown than his hair but one could clearly see an exuberant spirit in them. However, the arrogant smirk plastered on the boy's face made him look very dislikeable.

"What do you want Kihano?" Mikomi asked, or rather snarled, her voice dripping with contempt.

"I just wanted to say good morning to my two bestest gal-pals in the whole wide world!" If contempt dripped from Mikomi's voice sarcasm absolutely poured from Kihano's.

"If you don't have anything intelligent to say I suggest that you leave." Kihano merely smirked at the purple-haired girl's threat. "You're really scary. I'm shaking in my boots, and I don't even have boots." He didn't laugh with his mouth, the expression in his eyes did it for him, and it just ticked Mikomi off.

If she hadn't been an Uchiha she would've jumped up from her chair and beat the insolence out of the boy. But that was not the way her clan, instead she would just take the remarks while remaining cool as a cucumber and then put him down with a short, yet devastating comeback.

Unfortunately she was blanking in the comeback department, giving the boy ample time to opportunities to insult her. Luckily the blonde next to her had no reservations about making her voice heard when countering rude comments.

"Will you just shut up!" Konki shouted as she stood up and stare the boy directly in the eyes. "We were just sitting here minding our own business and then you come here, being a jerk, like always! Would it kill you to be civil one freaking time!?" The sudden outburst startled Kihano. He had hoped that the girl before him would be too depressed after her encounter with the blue heartthrob. He was pretty sure he could handle the Uchiha girl, this one however. Not so much.

"Keep it down will ya! We're trying to talk over here!" A female voice said and the three turned their heads to see Koudanshi and his fangirls staring at them. While the fangirls seemed to be pissed, the blue haired boy approached the arguing trio with a concerned look on his face.

"Is there a problem here?" Mikomi and Kihano gave him sceptical looks, prompting him to explain what he meant. "I would hate for my classmates to be arguing when we are so close to graduating. We should all bond as comrades in order to best serve our village as shinobi." He smiled broadly at his three peers, happy that he hade prevented a full out fight take place.

"_What a tool._" Kihano thought, suppressing the urge to sucker punch the smiling boy.

"_Can't he just mind his own business?_" Mikomi muttered in her head and looked over to Konki, hoping that she wasn't in drool mode yet.

"_He's so wise for his age._" Konki lovingly scream in her head. While basking in the greatness of her love's presence.

Kihano was about to get in Koudanshi's face and tell of for being an incessant buttinskiy. But he noticed that more pressing matters in the classroom. Matters that warranted his attention more than his moronic classmates.

"Sorry losers but I have more interesting things to attend to. Hopefully I won't catch you later." With that he left for a bench at the other end of the classroom. Mikomi didn't even bother looking after the insolent boy as he walked of. Instead she pushed Konki back into her chair before turning to the blue boy before her. "Everything's fine. You can go now." She told him with a very ordering voice that he obeyed. Though he did seem reluctant to as he threw concerned looks at Konki.

Mikomi sighed as she sat down. "_And here I thought that today would be different._" She thought before smacking her friend's face into the desk.

* * *

One needlessly long, if you asked Mikomi, school day later the academy students where sent free to go about their own business. Currently that meant eating before going through everything that might come up on their final exam the next day.

"Are ya sure you don't want to come? Mom and dad think that they haven't seen enough of you lately." Konki said while smirking to her friend. She had invited Mikomi to dinner at the Hyuga residence before training.

"Can't, dad wants to beat exam stuff into my head a few times before I eat. He told me specifically to come home immediately after school." Konki lightly shook her head in defeat.

"It's like he doesn't trust me you know. It's like he's just waiting for me to screw up." Mikomi said with a low voice.

" Don't you go all mopey on me again. Once is enough for a week." Konki stretched her hands up in the air lazily. "You're just nervous and he probably feels it as well and wants to help you." Mikomi snickered at her friend's insightfulness.

"For a goofball you're freakishly smart." They laughed before walking in silence until they bid each other farewell at a crossroads. The purple haired girl walked to her home and father. The blonde decided that she didn't want to walk. Instead she took to the rooftops once again and headed for the home of one of the most illustrious family in Konoha.

* * *

Landing in front of the large Hyuga residence Konki started humming a song she had heard a few days earlier, unaware of the danger ahead.

As she was about to open the front door a large rumbling on the other side made her do an instinctive back flip right before the door was slammed open. In front of her was a blonde man with blue eyes and strange whisker like markings on his cheeks. He was wearing a red and white robe. But none of that mattered as he looked absolutely furious and was pointing sharply at Konki.

"Traitor! Thief! Un-respecting, juvenile delinquent!" Konki was fairly certain that most of the village could hear her father by now. But she didn't care. In fact she was smiling happily as she raised a hand to wave at the Hokage.

"Hi dad! How was your day?" She said cheerfully. A vein seemed to pop from Naruto's head. "You stole my morning RAMEN!" He roared, outraged that his daughter didn't seem to comprehend the severity of her crime.

The hokage went up to his daughter's face and bellowed a speech about the cruelness of stealing a man's ramen. It was a speech she had heard dozens of times and knew by heart.

Meanwhile Konki's mother was observing it all together with a man who was wearing a white robe, had long dark brown hair and the white eyes of the Hyuga. He seemed far more concerned with the event taking place in front of him than Hinata, who had to stop herself from laughing.

Having the Hokage screaming like a maniac on his front lawn would not look well in front of the Hyuga elders. At least that's what Neji thought. "Shouldn't we stop them before either one does anything too drastic?" He voiced his concern to his younger cousin who smiled happily at him.

"Don't worry, Naruto-kun will run out of steam soon and then we'll all have a nice dinner." Neji sighed and decided to just leave them be. "I'll finish setting up for the meeting, please remind Konki of her practice session with Hiashi-sama. Last time she was late he was impossible to live with for a week." The younger byakugan user gave her cousin a rare smirk as he disappeared into the large building behind them.

Hinata let the scene in front of her keep going for a little longer than usual. Tomorrow her little girl would become a full-fledge ninja and there would be little time for pointless verbal spouts about noodles served in broth.

Of course that wasn't the main thing that she would miss, but it was one of the many small things. Konki was growing up. Like any loving parent Hinata couldn't help but think that it had gone by so fast. She still had Akari, Konki's little brother. But sadly enough he didn't care much for ramen.

* * *

Pain raced through her body as she hit the ground. During the course of this training session Mikomi had experienced a bigger beating than any other time in her life. If it wasn't regular sparring she would have accused her father of being abusive.

Then again, punching and kicking you own twelve year old child until they can no longer stand up straight without proper rest would probably count as abusive behavior in none ninja families. "_Just goes to show how fucked up ninjas actually are._" Mikomi though as she tried to stand up again, and failed miserably.

Breathing heavily she didn't care about the ominous shadow appearing above her head. She was hurt and she was going to rest it off damn it. Unfortunately she failed to ignore her father's commanding, yet surprisingly soft, voice telling her to stand up.

Emerald met onyx as she forced her eyes open and entered a one-sided staring match with Uchiha Sasuke. Her scowling face did it's best to match his emotionless one, but it was a futile battle. Groaning she forced herself to a sitting position with her back turned to the older Uchiha.

"Stand up. We're not finished yet." Sasuke said behind her. Not sounding the least bit concerned that she apparently had trouble moving and breathing heavily.

Normally Mikomi would just bite down and do as her father told her to. Today however that was going to change. In less than 24 hours she would be a full-fledged shinobi, ready to throw down her life to protect her village. She didn't need to take crap like this from anyone, not even her father.

Hoping that her resolve would hold Mikomi pushed herself onto her feet and began limping away from Sasuke.

"Where are you going?" She smirked a little at the slight shock that could be distinguished in her father's voice.

"I'm beat, can't train anymore. So I figured that I would take get some rest for tomorrow." Her voiced was more strained than she had hoped but it still had enough sass to make Sasuke frown.

"We're not done yet Mikomi. Stop behaving like an idiot." Sasuke's voice was beginning to lose some of it's natural calm. Mikomi on the other lost it completely.

"Or what? You'll beat me up?!" She said sharply as she sent him a glare from over her shoulder.

Sasuke eyes twitched. How the hell do you respond to such an absurd question?

"Why are you being so difficult? I'm trying to help you practice for your exam." He failed to realise that his voice was losing it's normal cool.

"No you're not." Mikomi responded angrily. "The only thing you've been doing since I came back home is beating the crap out of me. You suck as a trainer. Hell you're not even a good parent!" She covered her mouth a second too late, regretting what she'd just said.

She had no idea where that had come from. Sure, her father always seemed disappointed in her progress as a shinobi, and he paid more attention to her little brothers no matter what she did, and just now he's been thrashing her while calling it training. But he was a good father, wasn't he?

Mikomi barely noticed Sasuke walking past her at a calm rate. "Training's over for today. Go rest, you'll need it for tomorrow." His voice was as unemotional as it had been before.

"Dad, I'm sor…" Mikomi tried to say but was cut of. "Your mother will be back from the hospital soon. She can take care of any serious wounds you might have sustained." With that he went into the main building of the Uchiha complex, leaving Mikomi in the garden.

She never did get that rest, unless you count lying on the ground to wallow in despair rest. For a long time the only thing Mikomi did was to stare into the endless sky and wonder why life had to be so hard.

* * *

Naruto yawned loudly before going through the new list of genin teams. Assigning jounin mentors was always such a hassle. Just trying to remember who was in the village and not on some long term mission was a drag. Making sure that the jounin would mesh well with his or her assigned team was a thought process all on its own. Then he had to actually ask them all whether they wanted the position or not, a task made easier by his kage bunshins. Most would probably say no, but as the Hokage he did have some very nice leverage over most of them. Of course there were a few that had good reasons for not being able to train a trio of ninja newbies.

But the point was that the whole thing required a whole lot of thinking. And no matter how old he became, Naruto would always consider thinking outside a battle situation was still the most boring part of being a ninja.

However, this year he had decided to put a little more effort into it. After all, it was his daughter's class he was dealing with. He realised that he was probably being a little unfair to other graduating classes right now. But they wouldn't know. So no harm done.

But putting extra thought into the process had created a new set of problems for the Hokage. Currently lack of sleep was the main problem. He had been up all night trying to match up the suggested teams with suitable jounins, and boy was he tired. Being able to hear Hinata's snoring didn't help either.

"_I swear she's doing it to tease me._" Naruto thought before taking another look at the list.

Most of the teams would now have a teacher, provided that everybody passed and he wouldn't have to make any last minute changes. He glared at the names on the paper, as if daring their owners to fail the exam and make his hard work wasted. His glaring lead him to the only team on the list without a jounin assigned to it, Konki's.

Now, it wasn't just that his blood and bone was on the team that made choosing a mentor for it so difficult. And it wasn't that this would be the first team that had more girls than boys in the last 10 years. It was this team's potential. He knew all the kids on it on a personal basis and they were good individually. Together, and with some training, they could be brilliant.

However, it was the potential brilliance that was making it hard to pick a teacher for them. He needed somebody who could understand the three ninja arts almost perfectly and wouldn't dilly dally with the genin, but without being too hard on them. This jounin would have to be able to pick up on the minutest of details so that he or she could develop the perfect training for the kids.

While he was asking for a lot there were actually a few people in the village that had all these qualities. Unfortunately most of them were unavailable.

Kakashi had council duties that he couldn't escape from.

Tenzou and Shino were away on a long term mission investigating a new hidden village.

Neji was in a crucial part of the joining the Hyuga branch family with the main family. He really couldn't be bothered by another genin team.

Naruto frowned, he was running out of options here. All the other possible jounin were already assigned to teams. He slammed his head against his desk. This wasn't supposed to be so hard. He just wanted the best for this team, and his daughter. Really, that wasn't too much to ask.

"_Damn it! At this rate I'll have to ask…_" His mind seemingly froze along with the rest of him.

It was meant as a throw away thought. But thinking about it, why not? He had yet to teach any team, he didn't have any upcoming missions and he was as strong as one could get.

The Hokage laughed out loudly. It felt like the heavens were rejoicing or like the world suddenly turned into a brighter place or like scientists had found a way to make ramen healthy without losing any of the taste. The point was that Naruto finally had found a teacher for all the genin teams and now he could finally go to sleep.

* * *

**Author's notes**: So, how was that? Good, bad? Tell me in a review.

This and the next chapter are kind of introductory chapters to let you get to know the new characters. Then I'll get to the really good parts.


	2. Genins, teams and exams

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto. If I did Sasuke would've lost or at least tied with Deidara.

This is the first time I've written a fight scene just so you know. If you have any suggestion on how I could improve that specific aspect of my writing I'd more than happy if you guys could share.

With that said, here's the next chapter of Neo Shinobi.

**2. Genin****s, teams and exams**

The class erupted into a fit of applause when the last of Koudanshi's shuriken hit its target perfectly, just like his four previous attempts.

The boys hollered praises and the girls swooned for their class genius. Of course there were exceptions.

Mikomi was standing in back of the crowd and only had to deal with one swooning Koudanshi-fangirl, her best friend. Who by now had entered her own little dream world. Not that it was anything new about that. So Mikomi wasn't really bothered by it, she would just leave the hokage's daughter like that until it was her time to throw.

What did bother however was the only other person who didn't cheer for the blue-haired ninja prodigy.

"Come on!" Kihano yelled. "It wasn't that great. Just because he hit all the targets perfectly, can throw shuriken faster than most of us can see and look quite elegant while doing it doesn't make him good!"

"You mean that we should praise you and your near-misses instead?" Mikomi said before thinking.

"What was that Uchiha?" Kihano sneered at her. She hadn't planned on fighting with anybody. After last night, neither she and Sasuke hadn't said anything to each other, she was tired of arguing.

Then again, Kihano seemed like a perfect person to use as a verbal punching bag, and after years of his taunting Mikomi wanted some payback.

"I just pointed out that your throws sucked. That's all." She stuck her tongue out and the brown-haired boy wondered where she had found a spine.

"I hit all the targets." He retaliated, not ready to bow down just yet.

"None hit the bullseye and two barely stuck to the edges of the target." Mikomi countered while smirking.

"It's better than how you'll do loser!" They glared intensely at one another when Mikomi's name was called out. "We'll se about that." She growled and stomped over to the throwing area.

She didn't hit the bullseye like she hoped, but she was way closer than Kihano. However, the first three shuriken she threw cracked their targets, the fourth one cut its target in half and the last target just blew up once the tiny throwing star hit.

She passed but didn't get any applause. The class was too stunned. Frankly Mikomi was a little surprised as well. It was true that she did work out a lot to strengthen her body. If she didn't Konki would clobber her more than she already does when they spar.

So she jogged, lifted weights, did push-ups and lots of other things that she read in a book would be good for getting a stronger body. Her mother and Konki had commended her for the great effort she put into her training. Her father didn't seem to notice it. And the hokage had made some comment about fuzzy eye brows that she didn't really understand. Hinata had assured her that it was a compliment.

She hadn't had a real chance to test the results of her training yet. With the exploding target in her mind she made a mental note to set aside some time tomorrow and try out her newfound strength.

Once the targets had been replaced the supervising teacher called for Konki to step up. She was however still caught in drool mode and unable to respond. Mikomi sighed and walked up to the incapacitated girl, muttering something that rhymed with boron.

She stood next to the hokage's daughter and smacked her hard in the head, making the blonde's face hit the ground with a thud.

"Get up, it's your turn." From her position Konki gave Mikomi and thumbs up before pushing herself up.

While Konki bounced over to the throwing area Mikomi gave Kihano a smirk of superiority.

"Careful or you'll bust up your friend's head with that punch someday, tomboy." The defeated boy sneered, only to get punched in the face. "Watch your mouth jerk."

Mikomi thought about how ridiculous the notion that she would hurt Konki was, and Kihano made a mental note to never insult the hokage's daughter in front of her best friend again.

* * *

Hinata was standing a few meters away from the other parents that were waiting for their children to burst out from the academy doors. It wasn't that she was too shy to interact with them. The byakugan user simply wanted some time to her self. Especially before her home would be flooded with people congratulating the two girls she was waiting for.

She took a quick look at the sun. "_Not long now._"

As if on cue the doors slammed open and a mass of shouting students ran out to the greeting parents. Hinata was pleased to see her daughter, with a leaf headband in her hand, at the front of the group.

Running past all the other adults the young blonde tackled her mother with a bear-hug, which Hinata returned with all her might. She knew that there would be hard times ahead of the girl in her arms. But that didn't matter right now.

Throughout Konki's entire childhood Hinata and Naruto had worked hard to give her everything they didn't have. A loving family to come home to. Friends that truly cared for her. Everything to make sure that she was never alone, and that she was happy. From the way the girl in her arms was laughing and hugging her breath away Hinata was pretty sure that they had succeeded.

"Will you two stop hugging each other now? It's getting embarrassing." Hinata smiled warmly at Mikomi, who was scratching the back of her head, her headband in a pocket. As mother and daughter released one another the purpled haired girl sighed with relief. Only to be swept into a hug herself.

"Until you hug back I'm not going to let go." Mikomi could practically feel her best friend smirking. Nobody was actually staring, but the purple-haired girl still found it embarrassing. So she reluctantly returned the hug. She then demanded that they go to eat so before somebody else decides to embarrass her. Hinata nodded slightly and they turned to go.

They didn't get very far. A large brown haired man dressed in a red body suite and grey armor blocked their way. He was accompanied by a thin woman with long blue hair. She was wearing a simple white shirt, a pink skirt and a red headband. The man and Hinata smiled at each other.

"Chouji-kun, Aizou-chan. It's nice to see you two again." She shook hands with Chouji while the woman called Aizou gave a quick nod to the Hokage's wife.

"Heh, so your's and Naruto's kid made it out alive as well, and Sasuke's kid too." Chouji chuckled as he looked down on Konki, who bowed slightly, and Mikomi, who was gazing at the sky not caring about the new arrivals.

Hinata smiled proudly at the two girls. "Indeed they did. What about Chouya? I haven't seen her yet." Chouji was about to answer but Aizou beat him to it.

"She just likes taking her time. Unless it's something really important she's not going to rush it. She gets it from her mother." Chouji said and draped an arm around his wife, who smiled serenely. Hinata nodded and Konki began exchanging stories about the Akimichi girl's calm behavior.

Completely ignoring the conversation, and being bored with the sky, Mikomi turned her attention to her surroundings. All around her kids her age were being showered with exaggerated praise by their parents. Promises of favourite foods for dinner were made and it seemed like hugs were on some kind of sale, the way they were being passed around.

It made her cringe. But at the same time, she was jealous. As childish as it sounded the young Uchiha also wanted some acknowledgement of her graduation. Acknowledgement from her parents that is. She didn't require hugs or anything like that, but some attention would be nice.

She knew that her mother was probably working hard at the hospital, but she would be at the party. It was her father being a no-show that upset her. Had their row really been so bad that he wouldn't come to her graduation? Didn't this just prove that he was a bad father and wouldn't he want to show himself in a different light after what she had said?

"_Great, I'm abandoned by my father on one of the most important days of my life._" She looked over at the Uzumaki women chatting happily with the Akimichi couple. While she did appreciate that Konki's mother had shown up, it wasn't the same as having a real parent here.

Doing another sweep across the happy crowd, Mikomi found something that made her smile slightly.

She wasn't the only one that was alone.

Kihano was lurking, literally, across the schoolyard. Swiftly moving through the crowd he used the few bushes and trees on the premise as cover. It was as if the mischievous boy was hiding from a dangerous enemy. But that would just be ridiculous. However, as he got closer Mikomi noticed that he frantically checked out his surroundings every time he moved.

Mikomi sweatdropped.

"What the hell are you doing?" She questioned, making Kihano jump high into the air, screaming widely.

The young Uchiha watched without emotion as the air born boy landed on his head with a thud. She kept her blank face when he jumped to his feet and got in her face, his eyes red with anger.

"Don't sneak up on people like that!" Kihano roared. And like that Mikomi had found an outlet for her feelings.

"You're the one who was sneaking around you dumbass." Mikomi countered, not caring that they were attracting attention. "Did you say what I think you said, freak!?" Kihano answered and leaned in closer to Mikomi's face. With that they ignored where they were and really let lose.

"Obnoxious, narcissistic bastard!" Mikomi shouted, pushing her forehead to his.

"Self-centred, woe-is-me tomboy!" Kihano countered, pushing back.

As the severity of the insults rose and entire families left the scene as fast as possible. Teachers and members of the Uzumaki and Akimichi families tried to pry them apart but got smacked away by their flailing arms. The whole thing reached the point where Konki was seriously considering hitting the two of them. But an unexpected intervention stopped her from doing anything like that.

The two newly graduated shinobis were five minutes into their shouting match when a relaxed voiced was heard. "It looks like you're kissing each other."

The two newly appointed genin instantly stopped screaming and turned to focus their anger at the source of the comment.

It turned out to be a short girl with thick brown hair tied into a ponytail. She was wearing a white, sleeveless shirt, a net-shirt under that and baggy, white pants. While she was shorter than most her age her exposed arms were muscular, yet slim. She was wearing her headband around her right arm.

She met their wrathful eyes with a teasing smirk plastered on her face. Mikomi and Kihano seemed to have lost the ability to form coherent words as they were spluttering bits and pieces of words, without making any sense.

Luckily the little girl seemed to understand exactly what they were trying to ask. "The way the two of you were leaning in so close to each other it kind of seemed like you were making out. I'm just wondering if that's what you were doing." She explained, calm as a cucumber.

The previously quarrelling duo immediately jumped as far away from each other as possible, acting like the other had the plague. Kihano gave the two girls a glare before sprinting away from the school grounds.

"Hah, nice work Chouya. I was beginning to think that I would have to knock them out to stop them." Konki said as she clapped Chouji's daughter on the shoulder. Mikomi frowned at the two, now grinning, girls, silently swearing that she would get back at them before telling them to shut up. Of course they didn't comply.

Hinata watched her daughter tease the Uchiha girlthinking how Konki had taken a step towards becoming an adult. However it was quite obvious that her daughter still had some growing up to do. But that didn't matter, not as long as she was happy.

* * *

Kihano grumbled as he sneaked his way through the streets of Konoha. There were very few things that could really upset him. Accusing him of kissing a freak girl like Uchiha Mikomi was one of them.

Another one was being forced to sneak around the village like some lost dumbass. But if he wanted dinner it was necessary that he got home without anybody noticing, especially his mother. "_She had made that very clear yesterday" _he thought and rubbed his stomach.

But today was going to be different. He had planned all night, completely ignoring to prepare for the exam, and he felt that he had come up with a perfect route home. The route did involve a lot of what some might call unnecessary twists and turns, but it was all a part of the plan.

For example, he could just sprint the last two blocks and arrive at the door that lead into the apartment complex where his family lived in under a minute. But no, that would leave him vulnerable to detection. So instead he jumped between poles and alleyways, crawled in the dirt besides moving food carts and hid behind trashcans to undetected get into the dango shop five meters away from the aforementioned door. A quick henge later and he looked just like the old lady that lived in the apartment next to his family, and who he had tricked into going out for a long walk this morning.

All in all Kihano was quite proud of himself, though he avoided showing his smugness as he walked out the shop and to the door. He had managed to evade his mother's watchful eye and would have a full stomach before training, for once, because of it. _"Besides the run in with the Uchiha freak this will be a good day."_ He thought as he reached for the doorknob.

"BANZAI!"

Kihano looked up just in time to see a rapidly approaching shape crash into him, cancelling the henge. He struggled valiantly but soon found himself laying facedown on the doorstep, arms and legs pinned to the ground, and a familiar rump sitting on his back.

"Will you get of my back woman!" He screamed at his smirking mother, who was wearing a form-fitting dark green top, grey shorts and a beige overcoat. In response he got a condescending pat on his head as she munched down on a dango-stick.

Mitarashi Anko grinned teasingly at her son.

"Nope, you know the rules. I see you before you get inside the house, you get no food." She explained, talking to him as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"But it's my graduation day. Can't we just skip training for one day?" He pleaded and looked at her with puppy dog eyes on his face. Anko got a disappointed look on her face.

"The puppy dog eyes? Really? You think that works on me?" She stood up. "Idiot. Just because of that I'm doubling the training for today." She quickly grabbed his arm, stopping the boy from escaping, and pulled him down the street.

"I'm going to get you one day you know. When you least suspect it, I'm going to pay back for all the humiliation you've put me through." Kihano snarled at his mother whose grin had returned.

"Big words little man. Trust me, if you ever do follow through on them I will be the first to congratulate you." Angry that his threat didn't have any effect Kihano started shouting obscenities at his mother. She shrugged them of and just kept pulling him to their daily spar.

* * *

Naruto yawned slightly. It was late and the celebratory dinner that had been thrown in Konki and Mikomi's honour had finally ended. There was just one last thing he had to do before going to bed, and that thing included his daughter and some extra-curricular training. This is why he had brought her to the largest training room in the Hokage mansion. He just hoped she was ready for it.

"Come on already dad! I have less than half a day before I begin kicking ass as a fully-fledged ninja. If you have some super-training for me to do lets get to it!" The blonde girl shouted while spinning her arms around wildly.

"_Yeah, she's ready."_ Naruto thought while sweat-dropping.

Recovering from the shock of his daughter's eagerness the hokage put on his serious face, once Konki noticed this even she calmed down.

"You are a genius."Naruto began and smiled warmly. "There's no two ways around it. Pretty much all your grades are at the top of your class. According to Hiashi-sama your proficiency with the gentle fist could match Neji's when he was your age. And I know for a fact that you are every bit as quick-witted as me." At the last part the two grinned silently for a few seconds.

"But there is still one thing you lack." The unusual amount of seriousness of her father's voice made Konki nervous, she swallowed unconsciously. Seeing his daughter's expression Naruto decided to mellow down a little.

"Don't worry, you haven't done anything wrong. I just think that it's wrong that when you're going out into the world of shinobi your main technique is that of the Hyuga. While it is a great technique and all, you are an Uzumaki and as such you represent us as well. For you to do that it will require more than just quick-wit." Konki liked where this was going. A feeling that was obvious due to her smile growing with every word her father spoke.

"So what do you have in mind then? You know for me to represent us all the better?" Her piqued interest pleased Naruto. Hopefully it wouldn't be in vain.

"There is a technique that I've been using more than any other throughout my entire life. Besides myself I don't think that anybody else can use it properly. You see it requires a very large amount of chakra to work. Otherwise it could be lethal to the user. While you don't have nearly as much as myself, I'm certain that you have enough to make it work." He went silent to see if there were any questions. There weren't, just s girl eager to learn, nodding for him to continue.

"Pay close attention now as I teach you one of the most versatile techniques in the world." Konki obeyed as she activated her kekkei genkai to closely study the flow of her father's chakra.

After she nodded to her father to continue Naruto formed a single seal with his hands.

"Kage bunshin no jutsu!"

* * *

The following day proceeded without incident at first. The new gennin got their pictures taken for their licenses before gathering for the announcement of the rosters for the three man cells. It was here that the worst day yet in Mikomi's life started.

"I won't really mind who's on my team. As long as I get along with them, and I get along with most people so that shouldn't be a problem. Of course the best thing would be if I ended up with you Mikomi." Konki paused in her agitated rant and looked at her best friend to respond.

What she found was said best friend calmly leaning back in her chair with her eyes closed, not a care in the world. "Are you listening to me?" Konki questioned dejectedly.

"Not really." Mikomi deadpanned without opening her eyes. She then suppressed the urge to smirk wickedly at Konki's new rant about how she should be more polite.

Around them the rest of the class was buzzing with anticipation. Close friends were talking about how they wished to be on the same team. Girls were flocking around Koudanshi begging to be on his team, despite the fact that he didn't really have any power over it whatsoever. In front of Mikomi and Konki, Choya was humming calmly. Kihano was in the back talking loudly, despite nobody listening. In short everything was as it always was.

Normally Mikomi would contemplate the tediousness of nothing ever changing. Not today though. In a few minutes their sensei would walk through into the classroom and announce the new teams. Then she could finally start earning some respect.

Of course, she hoped that her team-mates wouldn't be morons, and she would also prefer to be alongside her best friend. But she had decided that she wouldn't be picky and at least try to get along with whoever she ended up with.

Minutes later Iruka entered the room and it quickly fell silent. Mikomi sighed and shifted into a more proper sitting position. Konki on the other hand leaned in as much as possible to make sure she didn't miss anything.

After a speech about how they were just taking a single step in their journey to become true shinobi the coughing teacher began reciting the new genin teams of the list in his hands.

With each new team announced Konki leaned in further over her desk at the same time as she used her hands to support herself. She knew exactly who she wanted on her team. Mikomi, naturally, and even if she killed herself from embarrassment she would like nothing more than to be on the same team as her radiant crush aka Koudanshi.

"Team 6: Roiyaru Koudanshi,…" Practically every girl in the room, except for Mikomi and Chouya, held their breath. Konki stood up on her chair while still leaning over the bench.

"…Uchiha Mikomi…" Mikomi shrugged to herself, and avoided the death glares sent at her, as well as the previously mentioned boy's attempt to smile at her. Konki on the other hand was ecstatic. She was just three more words away from her dream team coming true. The blonde girl was so excited that she had was sweating and shaking.

"…and…" Time seemed to slow down. Oh, she just wanted it to be finished so that she could begin celebrating with her new team. She saw Iruka beginning to form the last name with his mouth. _"Here it comes."_ She thought, ready to hug the life out of her best friend.

"…Mitarashi Kihano."

The effect was instantaneous. Konki's hands slipped and she fell of her desk, crashing head-first into Chouya. All the other girls in the class started protesting about not being in Koudanshi's team. Kihano, laughed uncontrollably, Konki suspected that her fall had something to do with that.

"Uzumaki-san, would you mind getting of me?" Konki looked down and the brown haired, and surprisingly mellow girl that she was currently entangled with on the floor. "Right, uhm. Sorry, Chouya-chan."

Getting back to her seat Konki ignored Kihano's snickering, and did not join the rest of Koudanshi's fangirls in shouting at Iruka. Instead she just sat down and wondered, but without being especially curious anymore, who she would end up with now that her two favourite choices was taken from her.

After getting the rest of the female students to quiet down Iruka was finally able to move on with the list.

"Team 7: Uzumaki Konki…" The girl in question looked up slightly.

"…Akimichi Chouya…" Konki looked down at the girl she had crashed into mere minutes ago thinking that it could be worse. Chouya on the other didn't seem to react in any way and just kept humming.

"…and Odayaka Kame." This got Konki's attention. Not because she was a close friend to the mentioned boy or even close acquaintance. It was because she didn't know anybody with that name existed in the class. Unfortunately she made this abundantly clear before she could stop herself.

"Who?!" She didn't know why she had said it so loudly. But it was done now and everybody was staring at her. "The dark haired boy two rows above you." Chouya stated simply, without turning her head.

Iruka once again resumed reciting the teams while Konki turned around in her chair to find her new team mate. A quick scan of the students and she found him, exactly where Chouya said he would be. She was however not prepared that the sight of him would break her heart.

Odayaka Kame was a very sad looking boy. His hair dark and tousled, like he hadn't combed it for weeks. His head hung low with a depressed look on his face. His dark blue eyes staring into the bench half-closed. The black robe he was did not do anything to improve his overall appearance. He looked liked his life had been over several years ago.

Kame caught Konki staring at him and quickly shifted his view to the floor, making the Hokage's daughter feel even worse. She had basically admitted that she hadn't known about the boy's existence, as if he wasn't important enough for her to notice. _"Well, nothing to do but to make it up to him later."_ She thought as Iruka told them to eat lunch before waiting for their team's respective jounin instructor.

Standing up to follow her teacher's advice Konki noticed that Mikomi seemed rather unmoving in her seat. A quick examination and she upgraded unmoving to completely frozen.

"Eh, are you ok?" the blonde asked as she poked her best friend, who shook her head as if waking up from a daze.

"Sorry, I must've blanked out. I had a horrible nightmare that I was placed on the same team as Kihano. So, who's on my team?" There was a clear hint of desperation in the Uchiha's voice and Konki tried to come up with the best way to tell her the news.

Saddly, she never got the chance.

"Hi there teammate!" Kihano said happily as he plopped up besides the two girls, a wicked grin on his face. "We're going to have so much fun." Mikomi seemed to freeze up again, except that now she was visibly shaking as well.

Kihano was about to fire of another comment when Koudanshi showed up at his side, draping his arm around the brown haired boy's shoulders. "Come comrades. This lunch shall be a perfect opportunity to get acquainted with each other and speak of our plans for the future of our new team!" He shouted with clear exuberance.

Kihano sighed and shrugged of Koudanshi's arm, his mood seemingly ruined. "Bite me." He muttered before stalking of to the door. "Why do you wish me to partake in the act of cannibalism?" Koudanshi asked and Kihano stared at the blue boy like he had grown an extra head out of his stomach.

As the two boys's exited the room Konki turned to Mikomi, unsure of how to act.

Fortunately she didn't have to do anything as Mikomi quickly came out of her frozen state.

Unfortunately her ears were practically torn apart by Mikomi's scream of pure horror and agony.

* * *

Naruto blinked. "Did you just hear a scream of pure horror and agony?"

"No, don't change the subject" Sasuke answered with a dull voice as he let his eyes wander around the Hokage's office.

"Right, you were trying to make a point about not being able to teach a genin team. And I was busy daydreaming about Hinata with a bowl of ramen in her hands." Naruto smirked as Sasuke's left eye started twitching.

"I just think that my skills would be better suited for something more important." Sasuke said, trying hard to stay calm in the face of Naruto's ever growing grin.

"Please, there's nothing more important than nurturing future generations. Besides, there's not a single mission that requires your abilities at the moment." He had prepared for every possible question and was quite proud with being able to win an argument with Sasuke, without having to threaten to kick his ass for once.

"But are you sure you want **me **to teach **her**?" Naruto's face shifted to a serious one as he heard the concern in his best friend's voice.

"_So, you still __think I don't trust you. Unfortunately for you, I do."_ Naruto thought and put on a warm smile.

"Of course I do. Who else but my best friend could teach my daughter? Besides, not counting myself you're the greatest shinobi in the village, and I want nothing but the best for my little girl." Sasuke sighed and nodded shortly.

"Fine, I'll put her and the other two through the bell test. But I'm not promising anything." He stated firmly before walking out of the Naruto's office. Never noticing that Naruto's grin had returned with a vengeance.

"_I don't need your promises. This team is going to kick your ass. I'd bet my hat on it."_ The blonde Hokage felt like he wanted to laugh diabolically, but decided against it.

* * *

Mikomi couldn't think of any torture worse than this. Sitting in room where the only other people were one person she loathed and another that didn't seem to understand when he should shut up.

"I can not wait for to meet our sensei. Since he is a jounin he will probably be incredibly skilled and have much to teach us. I am certain that he or she will be a true inspirational source for our future as shinobi." Koudanshi had droned on like that ever since they entered the classroom fifteen minutes ago.

The only upside of it was that Kihano seemed to be tortured by it just much as Mikomi was. But even silent his mere presence was enough to make the young Uchiha frown in contempt.

The two were sitting silently at opposite ends of the room while Koudanshi was nervously walking back and forth at the front of the room. Either unaware of his new teammates' glaring or unaffected by it.

Despite the blue haired boy not noticing it the tension was rising to a very dangerous boiling point. _"If he doesn't stop talking soon I'm going to pound him into the ground." _Mikomi thought as she clinched her fists.

"_I'll count to ten. If he doesn't shut up before that he's screwed__."_ The loud boy began counting slowly. Luckily before he even reach five, steps were heard from the hallway, walking towards the room. The atmosphere changed swiftly.

As Koudanshi jumped into an empty seat each of the three genin stopped caring about the other two. They were all actually rather excited to meet their new sensei. Although they had very different views on how he or she should be.

"_I hope it's a woman. A real though woman that won't take Kihano's crap. Preferably somebody who will demote him back to civilian so that I don't have to be bothered by him ever again! Yeah."_ Mikomi smiled at the thought of a weeping Kihano being kicked of the team.

"_Hopefully the guy's somebody really cool. Dark and powerful and he'll teach some sweet killer moves that I can use to beat up these two losers, and mom."_ A smirk grew on Kihano's face as he fantasized about using powerful and forbidden techniques against his teammates and mother.

"_It will certainly be somebody__ strict but just, battle-hardened yet friendly, strong and gentle. Our sensei will be our compass, guiding us on our wondrous journey from children to full-grown shinobi."_ Koudanshi's nearly started crying from praising his future mentor.

As the sound of the footsteps reach the door they all held their breath. Seconds seemed like hours. Then, a scream was heard.

"DYNAMIC ENTRY!"

The door exploded, dust was kicked up into a cloud and the three youngsters could just barely see a green silhouette zip into the room. A few seconds later the dust cleared and team 6 was able to get a good look on their jounin teacher.

It wasn't what they'd expected.

Not much had changed with Rock Lee's appearance over the years. The bowl cut, giant eyebrows and orange leg warmers still remained intact, along with the standard jounin vest of course. The thing however that solidifies his standing as a weirdo to whoever meets for the first time is still his classic green full body suit.

"Good day my youthful students! I am Rock Lee and I am your new jounin instructor. Together we will ignite your inner flames of youth and make them soar like never before!" He finished the introduction speech with a good-guy pose leaving his apprentices stunned with different emotions racing through them.

Mikomi silently cried as she realised the true meaning of the Hokage's eyebrow comment.

Kihano shook with disgust at Lee's enthusiastic behavior.

Koudanshi positively glowed with happiness. And why not? Their sensei was everything that he had hoped for.

* * *

Sasuke stalked the halls of the academy slowly. He knew his genin squad would probably be annoyed by his lateness. But he since he didn't really want to do this anyway he didn't care.

Since returning to Konoha the Uchiha prodigy had most of the time lived quite secluded from most of the village. Only Naruto and his circle of friends had come the least bit close to him. He was quite happy with that. Attending the random party here and there, having a spar once or twice a month with Naruto, Lee and/or Neji. The time in-between all that he spent going out on missions.

At least that's how it had been for the first four years. Then he fell in love. It had happened quite unexpectedly. A mission had gone wrong and Sasuke had been mortally wounded and brought to the hospital unconscious. When he woke up he was healed and she was there. Something about her just fascinated him, more than he thought possible at that time. She examined him and they began to talk. After that it was a blur to him. They dated, married, got children together and were happy throughout it all. It made him feel almost normal, like he was just like everybody else.

But he wasn't, he knew that. So he stayed away from most of the village and kept to his relatively small group of friends. But he now had somebody dear to stay with. She understood him and never judge his anti-social behavior as something bad. They let each other life their own life while living together. In Sasuke's mind that was perfect.

So being forced to take care of a trio of snoot-nosed rookies did not fit in with his idea of the good life. _"Oh, well. If the worst comes to worst I can just fail them and be on with my life. Shouldn't be too hard. If I know the mind of an Uzumaki correctly Konki will try to do everything by herself. Hopefully there won't any teamwork between them at all."_

As Sasuke mused about how to get out of this he suddenly remembered a stunt Naruto had pulled when Kakashi had been late all those years ago. Nearing the designated classroom he inspected the door. He was pleased that no erasers were ready to fall on him.

"_Who knows, this might not be so bad."_ He thought as he opened the door, and was hit right in the face by a speeding eraser.

Taken by surprised Sasuke fell over while hearing an all too familiar voice cheering.

"Haha! That'll teach you to be late sensei. We got you good. How does it feel to be outsmarted by…" Konki stopped raving as Sasuke stood up again. His eyes alit with fury but his face emotionless.

Surveying the scene he noticed a rubberband strapped to each side of the door, making it a large slingshot more or less. He then observed the three children in front of him. Konki was blabbering some kind of apology while fidgeting with her fingers. Chouya gently rocked her own body back and worth in her seat, not a care in the world. Kame seemed to try and hide his face in his arms.

Sasuke decided right there and then that Naruto would pay for this.

"Rooftop, now! No talking until I say so." He walked away and the three genin followed him quickly.

* * *

"Now my youthful students, before we may begin our hardworking journey we shall get more acquainted. Just follow my lead." Koudanshi hung on to everything Lee said while Kihano and Mikomi were daydreaming about being anywhere else.

"I am Rock Lee, also known as the beautiful azure beast of Konoha. My hobbies are five hour workouts, sparring and helping. I have already realised my dream of becoming a master shinobi despite being unable to use anything but taijutsu so I am currently looking for a new one." Once again he gave the three genin the patented good guy pose and urged them to follow his lead.

Naturally Koudanshi was the first to go. "My name is Roiyaru Koudanshi. I don't have any particular hobbies but I like helping anybody in any way possible. My goal is to show people that I too can become a great shinobi despite the fact that I'm the first in my family to try." Lee smiled, he liked this boy.

"Wait, you're from a civilian family?" Mikomi questioned the blue haired boy.

"Why yes. Is that a problem?" He replied nervously.

"No. You're just so good in all the classes I figured that you would be from a shinobi family or something." In truth, she was now very impressed by the prodigy. But she'd be damned if she told him that.

"You're too kind Mikomi-chan. Now please introduce yourself. I want to know as much as possible about my new teammates." The young Uchiha-girl managed to suppress a tiny blush.

"Well, my name is Uchiha Mikomi. I don't have any hobbies except for hanging out with my best friend I guess. My dream… I want to become the first Uchiha who is famous for the good that I do rather than the bad." Mikomi felt a certain warmth when she saw Lee giving her an approving look.

Lastly they all turned to the disgruntled Kihano who rolled his eyes when he noticed that it was his turn.

"Name's Mitarashi Kihano, if you didn't know that you're idiots. My hobbies are none of your concern. As for my dreams. I would like to kill my dad some day, and beat up my mom some other this." He grinned when he saw the perturbed faces of his teammates and instructor.

"_Heh, this might be fun after all."_ He thought to himself and sniggered.

* * *

Sasuke had managed to calm himself down by the time they were sitting on the roof. Not that he wasn't frustrated with the situation, but at least he didn't show it. And despite any bad feelings he has against the whole instructor idea he would follow protocols.

"Ok. To start this properly you guys have to introduce yourselves. Let's hear your name, likes, dislikes and goals for the future. Starting with you." He pointed at Chouya who smiled serenely and nodded.

"Akimichi Chouya at your service. I like to lie down on the ground to look at the clouds and cooking and eating gourmet meals. I dislike rushing things. My goal in life is to show everyone that I can carry on the Akimichi clans name proudly, despite not my lack in size." The way she remained so calm freaked Sasuke out a little. He nodded to Konki.

"Uzumaki Konki is the name, kicking butt is my game." Sasuke cringed at clichéd rhyme.

"I like sparring, jumping across the rooftops on a sunny day, eating ramen and hanging out with my friends. I dislike jerks. My goals include becoming the greatest kunoichi in history, marrying Roiyaru Koudanshi and becoming Hokage!" Sasuke nodded, somewhat appreciating the predictability of Naruto's daughter.

Finally he turned to Kame, who was avoiding looking anybody in the eyes.

"I'm O-odayaka Kame…" Sasuke blinked, surprised.

"I l-like a f-few th-things and d-dislike o-others, es-especially pi-pity. My g-g-goal is to become a st-strong shi-shinobi." He chocked out. Sasuke thought he was finished but was surprised when he saw a miniscule smile on Kame's face, and even more surprised when the black haired boy talked like a normal person.

"And, there's this girl I want to marry." Konki eyed the boy, clearly interested in who he was referring to. But he quickly reverted to avoiding looking at other people.

"Right, now…" Chouya raised her hand interrupting Sasuke, who nodded to her.

"You haven't introduced yourself sensei." She stated before she began rocking her body like before.

The sharingan master sighed, he had hoped to avoid getting even the slightest bit close to any of them. _"Oh well, I'll just follow your lead Kakashi."_

"Uchiha Sasuke. I like one or two things and dislike the rest. My goal in life is none of your business. Happy?" The Akimichi girl however seemed to have lost interest and was now gazing at the sky. Again, Sasuke sighed and silently promised vengeance upon his best friend.

"Anyway, as I was trying to say your first assignment will less of an actual mission and more of a game. The penalty for failing is that you go back to the academy." Sasuke couldn't help but smirk as all of them, even Chouya, looked at him with shock in their eyes. Konki was the first to comment on the new information.

"But we passed already. You can't send us back just because we might fail one mission." The daughter of the Hokage protested.

"Sorry princess. But that's the way we do things around here. Each year only nine genin actually pass this test. In short, there's about 66 percents chance that you will fail." Konki and Kame started squirming a little. Chouya sat still, but without her usually relaxed look.

"Normally we would do this final test tomorrow. But since I'm the boss here you guys have one hour to prepare for some serious survival training, against me." He handed out papers where the location for the exam would be and then the three genin were of quickly.

Since he had nothing else important to do, Sasuke decided to mosey on to the training arena. Pondering about the trio he just left.

"_So you not only entrusted me with your daughter Naruto, but the last Odayaka as well. Interesting indeed, even if he doesn't seem cut out for the shinobi life. And that Akimichi girl is just strange. If I'm right, they won't last for long. But it'll be fun to see them try."_

* * *

Lee had done the same as Sasuke and would have his team's final genin exam on the day rather than wait for the next. So an hour later team 6 had gathered before their sensei at a training ground surrounded by a thick forest.

"Now I must warn you all. This challenge will test your abilities beyond anything you have ever dream of. It is not for the weak of heart. If you do not feel youthful enough to go up against what's ahead I must urge you to go back." The taijutsu master gave his team an uncharactersticly serious look to emphasize his point.

"I won't back down. Not now." Mikomi said defiantly.

"I too will not go back from this chance of a lifetime!" Koudanshi shouted.

"Whatever, can we just get on with this?" Kihano mumbled.

Lee smiled, he had gotten a strong group.

"Very well. The arduous task in front of you will be…" He could see them all tense up, getting ready for the worst.

"…to get me a single glass of milk." Now he watched them fall over like anime characters.

* * *

Sasuke had made his team gather at the very same training area where he had taken this exam. It was an open field with a stone monument and three wooden at the center. Behind the the monument there was a large forest. Next to the field was a big lake, some trees stood majestically on the lake side.

At the moment Sasuke had just finished telling team 7, except for Kame who was late, the basics of the bell test, and was now waiting for any questions.

"What happens to whoever doesn't catch a bell?" Konki asked reluctantly.

"That person is sent back to the academy, simple as that." Sasuke said with his emotionless voice.

"Since the last of you seems to have backed of we might as well get started." He strightend up and set the clock to ring in a few hours. Sasuke couldn't help but feel disappointed. He had wanted to see the famed Odayaka talent in action.

"W-WAIT!" They all looked on as Kame came running at them as fast as he could. Sasuke noted that he was wearing a slightly different robe than earlier. On this one there were slits running down the sides from the waist down, showing of a pair blood-red pants. The sleeves were much wider. He was also wearing a belt and a small backpack.

"You almost missed it Kame-kun! I'll fill you in on what we're doing." Konki said, as a first step to apologising for not knowing Kame existed.

While she was doing that Sasuke noticed the many small satchels strapped to Kame's belt, as well as several holsters on both his legs, and a few on his arms hidden by the sleeves.

"_Should've expected__ something like that from him."_ Sasuke tied the bells to his belt, told his team to get ready and they lined up in front of him.

"One last thing. Come at me with all you've got. Really try to kill me. Cause if you don't, you'll never pass this exam." It wasn't a suggestion, it was an order, and he saw that they comprehended it perfectly.

"Now go!" And they disappeared.

* * *

A short time later explosions could be heard throughout the village and red smoke billowed across the streets. Strangely enough nobody seemed to mind it at all. Most citizens just stepped aside to avoid the blasts and smoke.

The only ones who seemed to be bothered by it was the trio of youngsters that were practically hunted by what everybody else more or less ignored.

Mikomi, Koudanshi and Kihano were all covered in sweat, dirt and, oddly enough, red paint, running as if their lives depended on it. They were all carrying a glass of milk in their hands, covering the top so that they wouldn't spill.

Their terrified faces showed how they felt about the situation and their horrified screams confirmed it.

Without bothering to look they passed a familiar ramen stand with an even more familiar blonde Hokage sitting inside enjoying his favourite meal. He caught what was happening out of the corner of his eye and smirked.

"Hokage-sama, what's going on?" Ayame, the owner of the stand asked, worried.

"Don't worry, it's just Lee giving his new team his standard exam. They're usually alright. At least until they reach the bulls." Ayame looked at him like he was crazy, waiting for a more detailed explanation.

She never got one.

* * *

Standing still for an hour and a half made Sasuke quite bored. He had been certain that at least one of them would have tried a frontal assault by now.

He was beginning to consider looking for them. _"It is part of my duty. And since I'm stuck with these brats until I fail them I might as well actually do it."_

The Uchiha clan leader sighed and stretched, barely noticing the approaching figure behind him.

Reacting instinctively Sasuke quickly jumped to the right narrowly avoiding Chouya smashing the spot he had occupied a moment ago.

Jumping backwards to gain more distance between him and the Akimichi girl Sasuke noticed that the muscles in her right arm had increased in size, and it wasn't just for show. Her punch had created a rather large crack in the ground.

"I was wondering when one of you would try anything. Well done attacking me the brief second my guard was down. But you wasted your chance." Sasuse said, getting ready to dodge any follow up attacks.

"Thank you Uchiha-sama. I do think you're wrong though. While I may have missed, I'll most likely only need one good blow to knock you out and grab a bell." She responded calmly.

"I'd say that you're right about that. Although I doubt you'll be able to hit me." The two opponents smirked at each other.

"I won't find out until I try. So it's worth a shot." She closed her eyes in concentration and the muscles in her left arm increased in size, just like in her right arm, and she charged towards Sasuke.

He sidestepped to avoid a right hook, dodged the follow up left uppercut by jumping back slightly and when she was about to slam both of her fist down on him the blue haired jounin jumped over her. As he sailed above Chouya's back Sasuke kicked backwards with his left leg, hitting her in the back of the head. She was sent tumbling to the ground.

Sasuke didn't have much time to relax however as Chouya quickly pushed herself up and charged at him again. This time she attacked with a fierce barrage of punches, which he avoided with insulting ease. Before she was finished Sasuke spun around and did a low sweeping kick, knocking the Akimichi down on her back. He then jumped away, again to put some distance between them.

"_While her strength is impressive for her age, her speed leaves a lot to be desired."_ He made a mental note on how to improve that aspect later. Then he reminded himself that he didn't want there to be any later. He was taken out of his thoughts when Chouya addressed him.

"My my, you were right, Uchiha-sama. I can't seem to hit you." The jounin nodded quiently at her. "It's unfortunate that I haven't been able to take this altered version of my family's technique any further. If I had I might have a chance." This information caught Sasuke's interest.

"Do you mean that your father came up a new version of the baika no jutsu just for you?" She shook her head in response.

"Nope, my mother and I did. Since my physique doesn't allow me to use the Akimichi clan's secret technique without endangering my life we did some research and came up with an alternative. Using a fixed amount of chakra I can increase and strengthen my muscle mass to just about any level. I'm still just testing it out, but it's proven quite effective, at least until now." She scratched her head in embarrassment, unaware that the jounin in front of her was actually very impressed.

"_A novice and a civilian came up with that? It wouldn't be too difficult to make it more versatile. Heh, this really is getting more and more interesting."_ Sasuke thought as Chouya got ready for another attack.

"Ready Uchiha-sama?" He nodded and they ran towards each other once again.

* * *

Konki watched from her hiding place as Sasuke danced around Chouya, effectively avoiding her attacks with ease. Throwing or kicking her away when she gets too close.

"_All those things dad's told me about__ Sasuke-sama appear to be true. Attacking him directly won't work at all. I have to think of a plan, a good plan, and wait for the right moment."_

And so she remained, unmoving. At least for now.

* * *

Sasuke swiftly dodged another blow from the surprisingly strong kunoichi. The punch sailed over his head and struck a nearby tree instead, splitting it in two. Sasukse grimaced as he imagined getting hit by the petite powerhouse.

He got ready to avoid yet another blow when Chouya's arms suddenly shrank down to their normal size.

The two fighters stopped in mid-fight and stared at each other with incredulous looks on their faces. Chouya was the first to talk.

"I guess you wouldn't allow me to recharge my arms so to speak?"

"No." Sasuke responded. "No I would not." He smirked slightly before disappearing and reappearing behind the brown-haired girl. The he knocked her out with a single blow to the neck.

"_I think I went on easy on her. Oh well. Let's find the other two and…"_ His train of thoughts were broken as he was forced to bend backwards to not be shredded by a barrage of shuriken, and the flip backwards to avoid several more.

Sasuke looked over at the forest from which Konki had emerged at full speed, holding one windmill shuriken in each hand and her byakugan activated.

Being familiar with the Uzumaki family's, shall we say inventive, style of fighting Sasuke readied himself for anything.

Konki threw the first oversized shuriken straight at her instructor. He promptly jumped up over it, never taking his eyes of the blonde girl. She quickly threw the other one as he was still in mid-air, unable to dodge.

Not worried, Sasuke prepared to catch the lethal projectile when suddenly something surprising happened.

The windmill shuriken flying at him transformed into an exact replica of Konki, and it was ready to strike him with a juuken slap.

Fearing the worst Sasuke glanced behind him where the first giant shuriken had undergone the same transformation. That Konki was now closing in on his descending form, ready to strike him down.

He touched down on the ground a second before the two Konki's could strike him. That second was all he needed.

"Chidori Nagashi!" An electrical field enveloped Sasuke and stopped the two Konki's in their tracks.

Hopping that neither of them was the real deal, the jounin was relieved when both of them disappeared with a puff of smoke.

The sharingan master didn't have time to relax though as he suddenly remembered the Konki that had originally emerged from the woods.

That Konki was in perfect position to attack him, and did just that. Aiming a fierce juuken jab to his gut, she attacked. Sasuke barely managed to catch her wrist. However, she wasn't finished and launched an equally fierce jab to his chest. As the skilled warrior he was, Sasuke caught that one too.

The two fighters were locked in a smirk-off.

"Your father taught you kage bunshin." Sasuke said with a strained smile.

"Yep," she answered mischievously. "I think I'm getting the hang of it."

"Don't act so cocky. I've fought your father enough times to know how to counter it." Sasuke said with just a hint of superiority. "Besides, what are you going to do when I'm stopping you from forming the seal?"

Konki's smirk grew. "Get you from behind."

Realising what she meant Sasuke spun around, while still holding onto Konki's wrists, slamming the blonde into another one of her clones, dispersing it. Surprisingly enough so did the Konki he was holding.

"Sneaky, aren't I?" He heard Konki saying from the left, but he didn't look.

He already knew. Three blonde genins that looked exactly alike had surrounded him.

Sasuke had to resist a smirk. Even when fighting her, Naruto's daughter annoyed him.

"I'm going to assume that one of you is the real Konki. Am I right?" They all nodded while grinning like crazy people.

"Ok then, since you haven't spammed the technique like your father used to do, I'm going to assume that you can only make six clones at a time. Am I right again?"

"You're the jounin, you tell us." One of the blondes answered, slightly unnerved by the jounin's calmness.

"That's a yes then." Sasuske said to no one in particular. "I have to admit that you've impressed me Konki. Your father always bragged about your skills, and now I see why."

The three Konki's smiled proudly at the compliment, letting their guard down just a little. Sasuke didn't waste the opportunity.

He quickly clotheslined one of the girls and whispered something in her ear before she disappeared in a familiar puff.

"Hey! My father is not stupid!" Sasuke smirked as the real Konki realised her mistake.

Sasuke used an extended chidori sword to destroy the last clone before he charge at the remaining byakugan user. Konki jumped to the right just in time to avoid a sharp kick to her chest.

The young genin rebounded back at her instructor and attacked with several rapid juuken strikes aimed at his chest. Sasuke avoided them all by turning his body just enough at exactly the right moments, frustrating the young Uzumaki incredibly.

Soon enough the older shinobi countered Konki's assault with a straight punched directed at her head. She barely managed to sidestep the punch only to be struck by a reverse roundhouse kick a moment later. She was sent crashing into a tree close to the river.

"_This really sucks. He destroyed all my clones and I haven't been able to hit him once or get a single bell. But I'm not giving up. I'm an Uzumaki and we never give up."_ She forced herself to stand up, ignoring the pain, and got ready to duel the sharingan master until she passed out from exhaustion.

As she stood up the girl prodigy noticed that her opponent was nowhere to be found. Even with her byakugan on, she couldn't see him.

"Where did he…" Suddenly three steel-wires encircled the tree, pushing Konki's back to it. As they tightened the young prodigy found that she couldn't move an inch.

"Hey! What gives?!" She shouted while trying to move her arms. Sasuke slowly walked up to her with an obvious smirk on his face.

"I just thought you needed a time-out is all. Not my fault that you're too full of yourself to pay attention."

Konki glared at him. "You just hid behind my blind-spot didn't you?"

"Smart girl." He smirked shifted to a slightly warmer smile. "Anyway, you're stuck here. While you try to get out of your predicament I'm going to pay a visit to the last member of this cell. You know, the only one who's still hiding. See ya later." With that he walked of into the forest.

Straining against the steel-wire Konki wondered if her best friend was going to have this much trouble with her genin exam.

* * *

The civilians didn't notice them and the ninjas who did didn't bother to help them. Because they knew it was part of Lee's genin exam test. It was still hard for them to just let three young genin hang from the Hokage monument like that.

Mikomi was hanging from the giant head-band on the face of the first hokage, holding on for her dear life. A thick rope was tied around her waist, the majority of it reached down five meters below her where Koudanshi was holding on to it as hard as he could with his left hand, a glass of milk in his right. It didn't help that Kihano was holding on to the blue boy's ankles. They were even sweatier, dirtier and redder than before and now they had several bruises on their bodies as well.

"I'm not sure how we ended up here but I'm blaming you two!" Mikomi screamed, forcing her arms to slowly pull herself, and the rest of her team, up.

"Shut up and pull us up you freaking tomboy!" Kihano shouted back, forcing himself to not look down.

"Now, now I'm certain that Mikomi-chan is trying her best and that there's no need to…"

"You just shut up and don't drop that milk!" Koudanshi did shut up and forced himself to ignore all distraction and indeed focus on the precious liquid in his hands.

* * *

Walking through the forest Sasuke seemed to be very relaxed when in fact he was listening closely to his surroundings. He had already underestimated two of his genin. It had very nearly caused him some serious injuries. If that had happened Naruto would've been merciless in his taunting.

Anyway, he had already planned to take Kame a bit more serious than Chouya and Konki. He doubted that the boy could live up to his parents' standard in the Odayaka's special field. But you never know how anything works until you try it out.

That's what Sasuke thought when he noticed movement behind him. He quickly titled his head to the left as a shuriken whizzed by, cutting of a few strands of hair in the process.

Sasuke whirled around but was unable to see where his prey had disappeared to.

"_Not bad stealth-skills for a genin. But if that was supposed to be…"_

He didn't have time to finish the thought, because he heard a rope snap. Turning his head the jounin was faced with a barrage of shuriken heading his way at a high speed.

Trained reflexes took over and before he could think about doing it Sasuke jumped to left, through an opening between the trees. The shuriken past where he had stood half a second earlier and Sasuke let out a deep breath.

However, he didn't have time to rest as he heard something else snap. Out of the corner of his eye he could see a volley of sharp blades coming at him from his right. Somehow he knew that not a single blade would get stuck in a tree before it had skewered him.

He dashed forward, away from the blades. His gut was telling him not to stop, and they were right because he heard yet another snap. This time large ceramic balls started dropping from the trees. As the balls touched the ground they exploded, spraying lethal shrapnel everywhere.

Sasuke managed to avoid most of the shrapnel by staying one step ahead of them. He had to run ten meters before he entered a part of the forest that was more open and the balls stopped falling.

But just as he expected, a second after he entered the open area a forth snap was heard and three oversized shuriken flew at him from different parts of the surrounding forest. They were slower than the previous projectiles and Sasuke had a relatively easy time dodging them before sliding to a stop in the middle of the clearing.

He listened carefully, but couldn't hear anymore snaps. The jounin had to suppress a chuckle. He would have to do a retake on Kame. It certainly seemed like the kid had what it takes to be a ninja. But before he would compliment him Sasuke just wanted to find him and repay him for the traps.

"I know you're out there, you can probably see me. Why don't you come out here so that I can test you man to man?" The response was a fifth snap.

Several small spikes with long, long steel wires tied to their ends that shot up from the ground in a large circle around the Uchiha. They criss-crossed each other, forming a net that was falling down, trapping Sasuke.

As the spikes hit the ground the net tightened, stopping Sasuke from moving an inch.

* * *

Kame watched from his hideout in the trees as Sasuke got caught. He hoped that the jounin was unable to move. But in his mind he knew it wouldn't be that easy. So he waited.

A minute later, Sasuke transform into a log, confirming Kame's suspicion. _"What do I do now? I have to find him, but I don't want to expose myself. Crap, I should've fixed more…"_

Kame's thoughts were interrupted when he felt a hand grab on to the neck end of his robe, and haul him of the branch he was sitting on. The black haired boy was thrown into a tree and fell down to the forest floor, hurt but still conscious.

"You're really good." Sasuke said. "Almost sneaking up on me, the traps that set of one when another missed and being able to guess that I used substitution right before I was caught by the net. You really are a member of the Odayaka clan, Konoha's finest trapmasters."

Kame slowly got up. He tried to look defiant as he stared into Sasuke's eyes. Instead he looked like a cornered animal.

"Don't be so tense. I'm giving you a compliment, you should just appreciate it. I really mean it too. You'd make your father proud."

Kame responded by producing a pair of shuriken from each sleeve and throwing them with unexpected speed and precision at his instructor. Sasuke countered by pulling out a kunai at using it to deflect the throwing stars.

He had to dodge the follow up kunai aimed for his head though. It stuck to the tree behind Sasuke and he noticed that there was an exploding tag attached to it. So he leaped forward to avoid the blast. It violently pushed him forward and he had to roll when he hit the ground.

The sharingan master ended up on his back and opened his eyes just in time to see the young trapmaster leap forward to take the bells from Sasuke.

The jounin kicked himself up, easily dodging Kame's attempt at the bells. Not giving up the black-haired boy pulled out a kunai and tried to cut of the bells from the belt. He never got a chance as the jounin quickly kicked him in the chest and sent him flying.

Kame slid across the ground, stopping just before hitting another tree.

"I see you have your mother's skill with weapons as well. At least the long range ones. If you pass this test we'll have to work on your close combat abilities."

"S-stop talking ab-about th-them." Sasuke stared at him impassively.

"Whatever do you mean?"

"M-my p-p-parents. I'm n-not l-like them. S-so st-stop comparing me to them!" He screamed the last part and Sasuke saw how he was fighting the tears.

"It wasn't your fault you know. It wasn't your fault that they…"

"Spare me your pity." The normally hesitant voice had been replaced one filled with resentment.

"It's not pity. I honestly know what you're going through. I could help you if you let me."

"I already have help and what would you know." Eyes filled with anger met emotionless eyes.

"My parents were killed too."

"Oh." Kame's face shifted back to its usual, shy expression, as did his voice. "S-sorry."

"It's ok, you didn't know." An uncomfortable silence filled the air.

"Tell you what. I'll never go easy on you. If I have to train you I'll push you until you can't stand anymore, and then I'll push you some more."

A surprised look crossed the young trapmaster's face. It slowly shifted to a grateful smile. Sasuke responded with a sly smirk.

"In fact, I won't even give you a head start before I knock you out."

Kame was fast enough to dodge Sasuke's punch and ran through forest. Unaware that Sasuke was intentionally chasing him back to the training area. Because while they had all showed great personal skills, they had yet to pass the true challenge of this test.

* * *

"So you didn't manage to land a single blow either?" A newly awakened Chouya asked Konki as she was cutting the wires holding trapping the hokage's daughter. The sun was beginning to set.

"Yeah. The worst part is how he treated us like rookies once he kind of was done with us." Konki said while stretching her stiff arms.

"But, we are rookies." Chouya responded with a confused look on her face.

"True, but it still annoyed me." The blonde looked around. "So what now?"

At that moment Kame came out from the forest speeding towards the two girls like a maniac. When he reached them he hid behind Chouya, looking over her shoulder.

"What happened to you Kame-kun?" Konki asked.

"S-sasuke-sa-sama is ch-chasing me." He stuttered out and pointed at the forest where Sasuke was emerging, walking at a leisurely pace.

"So you were defeated by him as well?" Chouya inquired the black-haired boy behind her. Kame nodded silently in response.

The trio watched as Sasuke slowly approached them, like he had all the time in the world.

"I don't know about you guys but I don't think that any of us are going to get a bell by ourselves." Konki stated while trying to stare into Sasuke's eyes, difficult because of the distance between them.

"Are you proposing an alliance?" Chouya questioned, hauntingly calm.

"Yep."

"W-what about the b-bells?" Kame asked as he stepped away from Chouya's back.

"We'll deal with that when the time comes. First of all we beat him up and take the bells or die trying." Konki said with a serious face and arms crossed.

"D-do we ha-have to d-die?"

The blonde pondered for a second. "Nah, I'd rather avoid that too. Now then, what can you guys really do?"

* * *

Sasuke saw that they were planning something together. He was pleased.

"_Good, now let__'s see if they're as good a team as they are individually."_

The trio had huddled together, whispering and occasionally looking back at Sasuke. Finally when he was within hearing distance from them did they turn and face him properly. All three ready for a fight.

"What, you've decided to gang up on me?" He'd decided to play the fool, just for now.

They answered by throwing smoke bombs at him. As they exploded Sasuke was surrounded by a thick cloud. The jounin was caught of guard and barely had time to notice a large object flying towards him.

He leapt straight up, high above the smokescreen and into the sky. As he began to fall downward he looked below where he could see that a big chunk of the ground next to Chouya was gone. At the current moment however Chouya's hand was occupied by a certain blonde byakugan user.

Sasuke wondered what they were up to when Chouya threw Konki up in the air.

The airborne girl reached up to a few meter above Sasuke before she started to descend after him. The jounin wasn't worried. He was falling too quickly for her to catch him.

"Kage bunshin no jutsu!" And like that six extra Konki's appeared around her. The real Konki and a clone grabbed ahold of the one of the other clones and started to throw them at Sasuke.

"_Only an Uzumaki would think of something so stupid."_ He thought as he began kicking and hitting the living projectiles.

"_If this is all they've got I'm disappointed."_

The exact moment after he finished that thought Sasuke could feel something tiny flying past his waist. When he looked down he could see the two bells falling to the ground, and Kame with a relieved look on his face.

"WAHOO! We did it!" Konki screamed as the last clone threw her towards the falling bells.

Sasuke smiled, the girls had forced him to focus on them making him forget all about Kame. He was honestly impressed. But before he announced the outcome of the test he was interested in seeing how things went from here. So as he landed on his feet he watched the three youngsters approach the bells.

* * *

Kame and Chouya jumped at the bells and Konki had almost reached them. Naturally the three collided in a freakish crash and fell to the ground somewhat entangled. Their right hands' similarly entangled around the bells.

A second later the alarm rang and Sasuke walked up to them. "Time's up. Who's the winner?"

The three realised the situation and slowly stood up, without ever letting go of the bells.

"W-what do w-we d-do n-now?" Kame asked Sasuke.

"Your choice. I don't care who I have to train."

"That seems rather unfair." Chouya began. "Can't you…" "I'll go."

Chouya and Kame looked over at Konki who was giving them a small smile

"I'll go." She repeated. "You guys go on and become great shinobi. I'll catch up with you in a year or so."

"Are you sure?" Chouya asked, her usual serenity replaced with concern. "I mean you are the hokage's daughter and…"

"It's ok." Konki interrupted. "Really. Mom'll probably be happy to have me home for a little longer. I'll be fine." She turned around to walk away.

"B-but it w-was yo-you're idea t-that…"

"I said its ok!" The blonde's voice was sharp and final. Then it mellowed down again.

"I mean it. Konoha gets two new shinobis and has to wait a little for the next one. It'll be fine." A small tear threatened to fall from her eyes.

Sasuke couldn't take it anymore.

"You all pass."

Time seemed to stop. The three genin looked over at their jounin instructor with disbelief in their eyes. He decided to answer the unspoken questions they were all asking.

"The real purpose of this exam isn't to gauge your skills and abilities. We already know that you have the skills required to be proper genins. In Konoha there is something more important than individual skills. Without it we leaf-nin probably wouldn't have survived for so long. This exam was meant to test your teamwork. And you all passed."

"You mean that the bells where irrelevant to our success?" Chouya asked. Sasuke grinned at her astounded expression.

"Pretty much. They were mostly there to cause dissension within your ranks." He gave the three genin a sly smirk.

The jounin was beginning to like how quiet and attentive they were. He figured that it showed they respected him. Then Konki kicked him hard in the shin.

"AARGH!"

"That's for almost making me cry!" The now fully appointed genin yelled. Sasuke was about to counter yell when she suddenly hugged him. "Thank you for passing us. I promise I'll be good." Sasuke sighed, she really was a pain.

"Let go before I do send you back to the academy." At the threat of being demoted for real the blonde quickly let go and returned to the rest of her team. Shouting words of celebration to them.

"I can't wait to tell everybody at home!" Konki screamed.

"I do hope that I'll get another gourmet dinner as a price." Chouya mused.

Kame just remained silent and gave the two girls a friendly, but shaky smile.

"Where do you think you're going?" Sasuke interrupted them.

"Home, to celebrate I think." Konki answered tentatively.

Sasuke gave them an evil smirk. "No you're not."

* * *

"So you just left them there to practice the tree-climbing exercise?" Naruto asked the smirking jounin in front of his desk.

"Pretty much. If I have to have a trio of brats following me around they're damn sure going to be the toughest trio of brats this place has ever seen."

Naruto wondered what kind of a monster he had unleashed in forcing Sasuke into this.

"I have to tell you dobe. I didn't want to do this. But those three have so much potential. Both individually and as a team. Watching them grow as shinobi is something I'm looking forward to."

"Told you so." The two friends chuckled a little when the doors to Naruto's office suddenly burst open.

Rock Lee was standing before them carrying Kihano and Mikomi in his arms and Koudanshi on his back.

"Hokage-sama, I am happy to report that team 6 has passed the genin exam and are ready to receive missions to aid the village."

"They actually passed your inane test?" Naruto asked incredulously.

"Indeed they did hokage-sama. Although they did faint right after I announced the good news. I just wanted to come here and report it before I took them to the hospital."

"Ok then. I'll just put it in the files." It suddenly occurred to Naruto that the two men in his office had just increased his paperwork. "You two better leave, quickly."

Fearing the tone in their otherwise jolly leader's voice Sasuke and Lee exited the room, fast.

They walked through the hokage building in silence until they reached the street.

"I can take the girl Lee. Her mother isn't working at the hospital today and I'm certain that she would want to look after her." Sasuke said.

"Very well Sasuke-san." Lee handed Mikomi over to Sasuke and waved him good-bye as he went down the road leading to the hospital.

"_So you passed as well Mikomi." _Sasuke thought as he looked down on the girl in his arms. _"I think that this village has some interesting times ahead of it."

* * *

_

As he woke up he could see nothing but absolute darkness around him. He tried to reach out and grab ahold of anything. But there was only empty air.

"Hello. Is there anybody here?"

"_**So you're finally awake.**_" The voice seemed to come from all around him and sounded like it came from an old radio.

"Who are you? No that doesn't matter please help me."

"_**I can't do that. At least not right now.**_"

"What…but you have to help me. I don't know where I am and I can't see anything. Please just tell me what's going."

"_**You don't remember it then. Well that's to be expected.**_"

"Remember what? What are you talking about?!"

"_**Hush hush. You'll understand soon enough. And while I can't help you directly I can help you help yourself. If you'll just answer one question. **_"

"I'll do anything. Please just get me out of here."

"_**Who are you?**_"

"Are you kidding me?"

"_**No. Who are you? What's your name? Where do you come from? Who are your parents? Who are you?**_"

"This is stupid. My name is… My name is… I… I don't know."

"_**Thought so. Let me tell you who you are. You are a weapon. Lord Orochimaru's weapon. And you will eliminate his enemies.**_"

* * *

**Author's ****notes**:Phew. That took awhile. But it was fun to write. I hope that the length didn't bother you too much and that you enjoyed the chapter. If it did I promise that the next instalments won't be as long. I just wanted to get the genin exam over with.

Now if you would be so kind and review I would greatly appreciate it.


	3. The Two Teams

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto, I'd like to own one piece though. Not the manga, the treasure in the manga. Then I'd have all the pirate crews fight in a big tournament for it. But I digress.

Here's the next chapter of Neo Shinobi. I've noticed that quite a few people have put it on their alert or favourite lists but not reviewed it. Please do review this story of mine. I really do want to hear what you think of it. They can be short, long, positive or negative. I'll take anything except flames.

Anyway, here's the next chapter, hope you enjoy it.

**3. The Two T****eams**

It's been one month since the new genin teams passed their final exams. In that time they have all been kept busy with daily training and missions vital to the balance of the village hidden in the leaf.

"How the hell is mopping floors considered work for ninjas!?" Kihano screamed before angrily dunking his mop into the water filled bucket.

"We heard you the first three times. Just shut up and do your job." Mikomi responded as she stuck her mop under a table. Hiding that she was equally frustrated with their assignment.

"But my friends do you not know what restaurant this is?" The aggravated pair stared at their blue comrade. "This is the **Emerald Tree**!" He said enthusiastically. "It's the most exclusive restaurant in the entire village. My parents have often dreamed about dining here. To be on the inside, even if it is just to clean it is an honor."

Mikomi smiled slightly at her ever positive teammate. During this last month she had gotten closer to Koudanshi as they often engaged in small-talk on missions and during sparring while Kihano kept to himself most of the time.

At first she hadn't really cared about whether Roiyaru Koudanshi lived or not. Now she was happy that he was on her team. His way of looking at just about everything in a positive light always made her day. She just wished that she could say the same about her other teammate.

There was nothing he said that didn't drip of maliciousness for his teammates. At least that's what Mikomi heard, and it made her want to punch him.

"So it's a fancy floor we're moping. Who cares? Let's just do it and get out of here." Mikomi frowned at him, tightening her fist. She did manage to hold it back and just walked past the annoying boy to dip her mop in the bucket.

"Actually Kihano-kun we are tasked to not only mop the floor. We are also supposed to clean the walls and windows as well. On both floors." That was another aspect of Koudanshi that Mikomi appreciated, he was honest.

Kihano on the other hand did not appreciate that aspect, at least not right now. Not liking that the magnitude of their mission was far grander than he expected Kihano decided to take out his frustration on Koudanshi, by smacking him in the head with his mop as he turned his back to Kihano.

Unfortunately when he swiftly raised his weapon of choice Kihano accidentally swooped the very dirty and very wet mop down on the back certain Uchiha's head.

There was a moment of silence as the offender and offended turned to face one another. Mikomi with a look of barely contained fury in her eyes, Kihano with apprehension in his.

Not being able to form words anymore, the purple-haired genin did the one clear thought that came to her head. She picked up the water-filled bucket next to her and threw it with all her might at Kihano.

The source of the Uchiha's anger managed to duck in the nick of time. Making the bucket fly over his head and hit the unsuspecting blue-haired genius in the back of his head, hard. Knocking him out cold.

"That could've been me." The loudmouthed boy selfishly stated as Koudanshi's head hit the floor. Kihano smirked wickedly at his teammates' misfortune. Then he felt a violent presence next to him.

Before he could even try to dodge Mikomi sent him flying with a sharp punch to the face. He flew in a large arc across the room before crashing into a table for four persons, destroying it completely.

"Look what you made me do, jerk!" Mikomi screamed. In return she got a very nasty hand gesture from the jumbled mess on the floor.

"Whatever." She muttered. "Just go get water for the bucket. I'll wake up Koudanshi."

Kihano got up on his feet and walked passed Koudanshi's unconscious body, picking up the empty water bucket. He passed Mikomi, who hadn't moved since from where she had punched Kihano.

The boy stopped moving one step after he had passed her. The tension in the air between them was almost tangible, and the silence made it worse.

"I hate both of you." Kihano stated with the same voice one might use to soothe a crying child.

"I feel the same for you, jerk." Mikomi answered after a second or two of stunned silence.

Kihano huffed and walked out of the room to get water.

Mikomi slowly walked over to her fallen comrade and shook him lightly. In her mind she repeated the same line over and over.

"_My life sucks."_

* * *

In another part of the village team seven, sans headbands, were also on a mission of similar importance to Konoha. Painting an old lady's fences.

"How long do you think that we have to do stuff like this?" Konki asked Chouya as she brushed green paint over the wilted wood.

"What are you referring to? Painting fences or D-missions in general?" The calm girl replied with a smile as she slowly swept her brush over the same plank again and again.

"Probably both," Konki replied after some thought. "At least I can fix this problem faster. Kage bunshin no jutsu." Six extra Konki's appeared, grabbed a brush each and went to work on the fence.

"Cheater." Chouya said without meaning it and Konki smirked at her friend.

The blonde girl looked around the yard they were on to make an educated guess at how long it would take to finish the mission. That's when she noticed that her other teammate was all alone on the other side of the yard. Even with his back turned the boy looked awfully sad.

"Don't worry about him." Konki looked over at Chouya, who was still painting that same plank.

"He'll come around sooner or later. It's best to not rush these things."

"Well, that's not the way I work." Konki huffed. "Besides, he's our teammate and I still owe him for the whole not knowing about him despite the fact that we've been in the same class for six years thing. The least I can do is to socialise with him on missions." With that said Konki walked of towards Kame.

"Suit yourself." Chouya mumbled absently.

Unlike most other genin Kame actually liked D-missions, he found them soothing in their simplicity. They also kept him inside the village, something he was eternally grateful for. In return he did the best job he possibly could, without complaining. In fact, he was so focused on his work that he didn't even notice the blonde byakugan user walking up to him. So naturally he was pretty damn surprised when she started speaking to him.

"Hi Kame-kun." She said cheerfully, making Kame freeze completely.

"He-hello K-ko-konki-san." He chocked out before slowly turning around.

A strained smile adorned his face. His hands were visibly shaking and his eyes darted all over the place, avoiding looking directly into Konki's. The blonde pretended to be oblivious to it all.

"So…why don't you come over to our side of the fence? We'll get to this side soon enough." She smiled brightly, adding a little incentive to the invite.

"N-no th-thanks. That's o-ok." The hokage's daughter frowned, but she would not give up.

"Come on. You always stay away from us on missions and hardly ever talk to anybody but Sasuke-sensei." Kame tilted his head downward, thus escaping the blonde's eyes completely. Konki ignored this too.

"You can talk to me Kame-kun, and Chouya-chan. I promise, we won't bite. You don't have to stand here all alone." She could see the cogs turning in the shy boy's head.

"But…I…it just…" Finally he stared her in the eyes. Konki smiled encouragingly to Kame's desperate face.

"I like being alone." The way he said it sounded awfully strained.

A thick silence filled the air. Konki's smile gradually faded into a look of disappointment. This was not how she expected things to go, not at all.

"You like being alone?" She repeated, disbelief in her voice.

"Y-yes…" Konki raised an unconvinced eyebrow at him. But she decided to leave it. So she just nodded courteously and walked away. Leaving the young trapmaster to his thoughts.

"_I…like__…being…alone."_ Kame quoted in his head as he turned back to the fence.

"_Why can't I stop doing that?__"_ The shy boy repeated thought miserably as he began painting, resisting the urge find a brick wall and slam his head into it.

On the other side of the yard Konki rejoined Chouya, who was humming a peaceful melody that matched the rhythm of her brush strokes, still working on the same plank. The clones on the other hand were almost finished.

Konki silently dipped her brush in the paint can and tried to move to a part of the fence far away from Chouya, not wanting to give the short girl an opportunity to gloat. But her teammate was too quick for that.

"I take it that I was right then." Konki grumbled something incoherently and stepped up beside the brown-haired girl.

"Yes, you were right." She admitted reluctantly. "But that doesn't mean that I'm going to give up or anything. He's just shy and obviously doesn't have much social experience with other people. But I'll make him come around." A confident grin appeared on Konki's face. "You just watch me."

"Seven free meals say that he'll approach us on his own accord before you convince him to." Chouya stated simply without looking at Konki, who had to think for a few seconds before she realised what the other girl meant.

When she finally did understand a large smirk grazed her face. "You're on!" The hokage's daughter struck the pose of person who was certain she'd win.

A while later the two were proudly admiring their, meaning the clones', work on the fence. Neither said a word for almost five minutes until Konki broke the silence. "So when do you think Sasuke-sensei will give us back our headbands?"

* * *

"Why did dad take your headbands?" Mikomi asked her best friends as they were walking towards the Uchiha residence six hours later.

"He said that if we could take a couple of bells from him we should be able to take something really mattered as well. Then he started beating us up with his right arm." Konki answered with gloom. "Has he ever done anything like that to you?" Mikomi frowned and nodded.

"When I was six he took my stuffed bunny and told to come and get it. He kept me away with his left hand." Mikomi started grumbling things that Konki was sure she didn't want to hear.

"Well, at least he has other ways to train us, and they're rather effective I might add." Konki stated, hoping that she'd bring out some pleasant memories of Mikomi training with Sasuke. It failed.

"Yeah. There's the way he toughens you up by only letting you block while he attacks. Or the way he improves your speed by hunting you down with fireballs. And let's not forget the evasion exercises. I just love avoiding rains of lethal weapons thrown at me from a short distance!" Her face had taken on a frightening red hue at this point. "Honestly I don't know how you guys can put up with it and not complain." She said with a much calmer voice.

"Yeah, it's hard." Konki wisely decided to not tell Mikomi about the excellent training regimes that Sasuke had thought up for her, Kame and Chouya.

They walked the rest of the way to Mikomi's home in silence. It wasn't until they opened the front door that said silence was violently broken.

"ONEE-CHAN!" Two small and shrill voices simultaneously screamed one moment before a couple of dark blue blurs crashed into the already disgruntled kunoichi's legs.

"Hello tiny, annoying brothers." Mikomi deadpanned to the two identical, four year old boys clinging to her legs. They were both spitting images of their father from when he was their age. The only real difference was their much livelier personalities.

"Hi Kettou, Gachin." Konki said, much more cheerfully than Mikomi, to the twins.

"Hello Konki-chan." They said at the same time, never letting go of Mikomi's legs.

They then re-focused their attention to Mikomi. "What did you do today?" The one on her right leg asked excited. "I mopped floors Kettou. Now let go of my legs." But they both remained

"Did you fight anybody?" This time the twin on her left leg talked. "No, I didn't Gachin! Let go now, before I kick you of!" The threat didn't work and both of them fired of similar questions that Mikomi promptly ignored.

"You know, they been talking about you all day." Came a young voice from the door. It belonged to a seven year old boy with dark blue hair, blue eyes and white clothing.

"Ya don't say." Mikomi frowned while shaking her left leg lightly. "Thanks for watching them."

"De Nada." Akari said with a smile. "You mom's back home by the way. She just wanted me to keep an eye on the twins until you came back while she makes food." Mikomi nodded and then turned back to her brothers.

"Will you two let go, you're embarrassing me."

"Give it a rest, you know you love it." Konki said with a knowing smirk. "Come on Akari, we have to get home and get ready for dinner." Akari nodded and walked ahead of his sister who said good bye to the Uchiha siblings before following.

Mikomi stared down on the two boys hugging her legs, and still firing away questions like pistols. She sighed and walked into the house, smiling ever so slightly. "Mom, where are you!?"

"In the kitchen honey." A pleasant voice answered. "Dinner won't be ready for another hour. Could you look after your brothers in the meanwhile?"

"Sure thing." She said before whispering. "They won't leave me alone anyway."

She trudged out into the large training ground behind the estate. "If you guys shut up and let go I'll let you watch me train." She said with a sing-song voice and the twins immediately jumped of her legs and sat down on the grass not too far from their sister. Admiration shone from their eyes as their sister picked out several weights from a chest near the entrance to the training ground.

Throughout the rest of the hour Mikomi preformed every training regime she could think of. She did sit-ups, push-ups, several forms of weightlifting, sprinting back and forth between two trees and much more. While she did work up a sweat none of it really challenged her.

Ever since the academy exams she had tested her strength at every possible opportunity. Several weeks of lifting large rocks above her head and breaking logs in half later it was clear that all her hard work had actually paid of. The only reason she was going through every standard exercise regime in her head was to see if anything of it would tire her out. She concluded early on that it barely did. But just to make a show for the twins she decided to finish of by hitting one of the wooden posts repeatedly, while shouting stereotypical battle screams.

She didn't really know why, but they both loved it when she did that. However, their amusement ended all too soon as a motherly, yet commanding voice was heard amongst their childish squeals. "It's time for dinner. Get your butts in here before I come and get you!"

"And Mikomi, you better wash up quickly before you enter my kitchen." Mikomi's mother added as an afterthought.

"Yes mom." She sounded indignant but really, she did smell like shit.

* * *

While the purple-haired girl was trying to set a new record for speed-showering her father came home from the day's mission report. Sasuke found it rather annoying that Naruto insisted on hearing every last detail about what team seven was doing.

"_You'd think he'__d at least try to treat his daughter's team like just another squad."_

As he opened the door he, just like Mikomki, was greeted by a double tackling hug from the two youngest members of the household. Resulting in Kettou and Gachin holding on to his legs this time.

"OTOO-SAN!" Sasuke smirked down at the two. "What's that in your hand?" Kettou asked loudly.

"These," Sasuke began as he walked in through the door, trying not to lose his balance on account of the two boys. "Are my students' headbands. I took them to see how long it would take them to get them back." His sons laughed and Sasuke smiled. At least until he came face to face with one of the few things that made him nervous.

It would be easy to underestimate the matriarch of the Uchiha household as a common housewife. Her dark brown hair tied into an old-fashioned bun. A wooden ladle in her left hand. The apron adorned with tiny heart and flowers over her dark green shirt and long blue skirt didn't help either. But she was a medic-nin at the prime of her life who could stop Uchiha Sasuke with a single stern look from her hazel-brown eyes. Truly, Uchiha Hato was not a woman to be trifled with.

"Don't tell me you're getting revenge on those poor children just because they almost got a couple of bells from you?" It always surprised Sasuke how his wife could talk with such a calm yet aggressive voice.

"It's not revenge. I'm just trying to keep them on their toes. Sasuke countered, but his Hato didn't seem to buy it.

"You're returning the headbands directly after breakfast." The way she said was very final. But Sasuke wouldn't have it and followed her as she walked into the kitchen.

"Don't talk to me as if I'm a…" He was stopped by another stare. One that said "don't use that voice in front of the children", or something similar. The jounin looked down and realised that he had forgotten about his sons. Luckily they didn't seem to have noticed that there had even been an argument, as they still clung to Sasuke's legs with smiles on their faces.

The sharingan user mouthed an apology to his wife. She nodded understandingly and all was well. They carried the trays that were filled with their dinner to the dinning room before Sasuke tried to explain his reasoning more delicately to his wife.

"Seriously, it's not like I'm holding a grudge against them or anything like that." Sasuke explained as he pried his sons off his legs, and made sure they would sit down on their places at the dinner table. "They just have so much potential and I'm not going to hold back on pushing them past their current limits."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Hato asked. "Remember how that mentality worked out on Mikomi. You two have barely talked since she became an official genin. All because of you pushed her too hard."

"Maybe so, but it's different with these guys. They can take it just fine, and they're actually learning something from it all." His voice became uncharacteristicly enthusiastic. "You have no idea how great it is to have students that listen to me instead of resisting what I'm trying to teach them most of the time." Hato did not like where this was going and tried to steer it into a more pleasant direction.

"I think that you're giving Mikomi too little credit. She has improved greatly and she was among the top three students in the taijutsu department."

"Yeah! Onee-chan is super-great!" Kettou shouted in defence of his sister. "Super-duper-great!" Gachin added. Hato smiled at them, but Sasuke didn't react to it.

"I admit that she is skilled. But it's nothing out of the ordinary. And she lacks the discipline that separates the common no-name ninja from the truly special ones." He did not register his wife, and sons, glaring at him. "Konki, on the other hand, has all the makings of a spectacular ninja."

He was about to continue when the sound of someone running away from them could be heard, followed by a slamming door.

Sasuke looked up at his wife who not only seemed mad, but disappointed as well. "I'll go talk to her. She's probably had enough of you for some time now."

As she left the room Sasuke sighed deeply, ignoring his sons' childish glares. As he thought about everything he had said the jounin realised that his only regret was that Hato would be bugging him about it. He had told the truth as he saw it and he was not sorry about Mikomi hearing it.

That's when he heard a violent crash a short distance away, followed by an even more violent ruckus. _"And she's prone to aggressive fits too. I forgot to mention that. That's definitely not behavior worthy of a shinobi."_

* * *

A week passed without any particular incidents for either team six or seven. Except that Mikomi seemed to be avoiding her best friend as well as her father. Causing great confusion for the Hokage's daughter. Then one afternoon the Hokage requested the entire team seven's presence after they were done with their regular missions.

When they arrived at the hokage-office Sasuke couldn't help but get a feeling of wariness from Naruto's sly smirk. Konki on the other hand was intrigued. She knew the smirk on her father's face. It was the smirk he used when he had something exciting to tell her.

"Hi gang. I bet you're all wondering why I called you here today." The genin nodded their heads while Sasuke remained perfectly still.

"Well, you guys have been performing your mission pretty much flawlessly, and from what Sasuke has told me you've all improved faster than the average genin team." A large smile form on Konki's face. Chouya simply tilted her head to the side and smirked mysteriously. Kame on the other hand blushed and began examining his hands thoroughly.

"With all this development I've decided that it's time for you guys to move up in the world." At this announcement Konki's eyes grew happily, Chouya's smirk grew even wider and Kame gulped nervously. Sasuke's face remained emotionless.

Naruto stayed painfully silent for a few seconds before continuing. "Tomorrow you're going on C-rank mission. You get tonight to prepare for a three week long mission…"

"WHAT!" Kame shouted before he could stop himself..

Team seven looked at the dark-haired boy with surprised expressions. He didn't seem to notice and just stared at Konoha's leader, desperation written all over his face.

"I-I c-can't be g-g-gone f-for th-three weeks. Y-you know that Ho-hokage-sa-sama."

"Sure you can." Naruto answered cheerfully.

The young trapmaster's face twisted in disbelief and he tried to plead his case. "B-b-but…"

"This is obviously going to take a little while. The rest of you guys can go home and prepare like I told you." Naruto told the rest of team seven. "Be at the mission briefing-room at seven a.m. And don't worry. You'll have your stuttering trapmaster with you tomorrow."

Konki and, to a lesser degree, Chouya didn't want to leave. But Sasuke pushed them out, forcing them to go home confused and concerned.

"Now then," Naruto addressed the dark-haired boy with a friendly voice. "What are we going to do about you?" He noticed that Kame had reverted to avoiding looking directly at him.

"P-please, I can't l-leave m-my ho-house. N-not for th-that l-long." He almost whispered with a pleading voice.

"I'd think you'd trust your father more than that. You're parents left it alone for longer periods than this mission all the time. Even after you were born."

"B-but wha-what if s-someth-thing ha-happens?"

Kame's stubbornness was beginning to annoy the blonde Hokage. "Like what?" Naruto said almost angrily. "Nothing has ever happened and I don't think that it will start on the very day you leave for your first mission outside the village."

Kame finally raised his eyes to meet Naruto's, at that moment the blonde's frustration practically melted away instantly. Because in the dark-haired boy's eyes he saw not only genuine anxiety, but also the horrible burden one can only have if they've truly been alone. A burden Naruto was all too familiar with.

"Wh-what if you're wr-wrong?"

"If I'm wrong it'll still be ok. Like I said, trust your father." Kame nodded slowly and Naruto smiled. "Now, do I have to break my promise to your female companions and sensei? Or will you show up tomorrow."

"N-no Hokage-s-sama." Kame said after lowering his gaze once again. "Good, then you should go home and prepare and I'll see you tomorrow."

He watched as the shy genin exited the room and then sighed deeply. _"I had hoped that Konki would've brought out some of the old Kame from before the incident. But you're still as withdrawn as ever. I just hope that you can overcome your problems soon Kame. Because if you continue like this, you won't survive for long."_

_

* * *

_

The next morning team seven, including Kame to Konki's happiness, showed up at the mission briefing where Naruto was talking with a tall man.

He was dressed in a standard jounin outfit. His dark hair tied up in a pine-apple like ponytail, a ring in his right ear. His expression a laid-back one. No change that. He was clearly bored.

"Ah, there you are." Naruto addressed team seven who approached the Hokage and the bored jounin. "This is Nara Shikamaru. He'll explain the mission to you."

"The hell I'm doing something that troublesome." Shikamaru responded with an interesting mix of annoyance and drowsiness. "I'm just here to give you this." He shoved a green scroll into Naruto's hands and walked away muttering. "Friggin hokage making me go up this early and wants me to do his job. So troublesome."

Konki and Kame blinked confused at what had happened. Sasuke sighed not caring much for Konoha's lazy genius' attitude. Chouya stared after Shikamaru with an infatuated look.

"Right, anyway." Naruto began snapping everybody's attention back to him as he held up the scroll. "This scroll was written during the second great ninja war by a husband and wife that descended from Konohagakure and Kusagakure respectively. It contains a few secret techniques from both of their clans. After they died, and the war was over there was a dispute over which village had the rightful claim to it. To make a long story short, Konoha won that dispute." Naruto paused to see if there were any questions. There wasn't so he continued

"The writing is in an old code that was deemed inadequate almost a century ago. Few remember that it even existed, and even fewer know how to translate it. Luckily enough there's a person in Kusa that knows how do just that."

"Why's that good?" Chouya asked with a distant voice. "Don't we have a translation?"

"Of course we do." The hokage said a bit louder than he intended. "But due to our recent treaty with them we have decided to let Kusa get access to the information in the scroll. We offered to just give them our decoded version but their village leaders said, and I quote "We'd prefer it if could have our own expert decipher the scroll. No offense.", in short they don't trust us so they want to do their own interpretation." Naruto muttered something under his breath that Konki was certain her mother would not approve of.

"Your mission is to bring the scroll to a village on the border between the fire country and the grass country where it will be decoded by whoever they're sending; he will also have his own ninja squad escorting him. Once he's finished you are to bring the scroll back to Konoha. Any questions?" Sasuke had quite a few questions for Naruto, but he wanted to see if his pupils had any first. It paid of as Konki spoke up.

"Why are you sending us on this mission? It seems like it's more a mission for chunins."

"The techniques on this scroll aren't dangerous like the ones in our forbidden scroll. And their use is restricted to rather specific situations. That and a few other reasons make it very unlikely that the scroll would be targeted by enemy villages."

"Then why has it caused so much trouble?" Chouya inquired inattentively.

At this Naruto became somewhat fidgeted and scratched the back of his head. "Well you see, it's a matter of principals."

There was a moment of disappointed silence.

Sasuke sighed. "Can we just get on with this now?" He asked impatiently.

"Sure," Naruto said. "Here's a map to the village, it'll take you about a day to reach it, and the codeword you will use to identify the Kusa party." Sasuke took the two papers and the scroll from Naruto.

"Well then, good luck now and have fun." Naruto said with smirk on his face.

"Yes sir!" Konki said loudly and saluted her father.

"Sure thing." Chouya stated calmly as she spun her head around.

Kame just nodded slowly and Sasuke resisted the urge to slap himself in the face for Naruto's lack of seriousness in such a situation. But then again, who was he to question it?

Team seven bid their farewells and walked out for their first serious mission. It would be an adventure they'd never forget. But before we get to that lets take a look at what team six is doing.

* * *

"Come now my youthful students. We've only gone 49 laps around the village." Lee told the rest of team six as they, like him, were walking on their hands.

"Haha, you don't have to tell us Lee-sensei. We are not even close to being tire yet." A sweating Koudanshi said with a strained and exhausted voice. "Isn't that right comrades?" He asked to his two teammates.

"Shut up, shut up, shut UP!" Kihano yelled before slipping and crashing with his face to the ground for the 82 time, adding yet another bruise to it.

"Idiot." Mikomi deadpanned as she hand-walked past the young Mitarashi. While sweating but was not as tired, or beat-up, as the two boys. "Lee-sensei will we be getting a mission after the last lap or can we get some rest before that?"

"There's plenty of time to think about that later Mikomi. First we have to finish the last 51 laps around the village." At this proclamation Mikomi's face joined Kihano's in crashing to the ground, creating a surprisingly melodic thud.

* * *

Silence reigned as team seven jumped from branch to branch at blazing speed. It was neither a comfortable silence nor an uncomfortable one. But it was bugging Konki to no end, so she decided to break it up.

"Hey Sasuke-sama. What are we going to do while the scroll is being decoded?"

"You guys will continue training like before while I keep watch over the scroll." Sasuke stated emotionlessly. Konki was disappointed by that, she had hoped for something more exciting.

"And I want you to start sparring with each other. It's about time you tested your skill in combat."

This information was meant with various reactions. Konki accidentally let out a small triumphant yell as her smile widened in excitement. Chouya said a single word with a dreamy voice. "Neat." Kame was surprised, lost his footing and slammed into a tree.

"Kame, stop messing around and keep up with the rest of the team." Sasuke said calmly.

"Y-y-yes s-s-sen-sensei." The stuttering boy said embarrassed as he got up and followed.

Konki looked back, concerned about Kame's reaction. _"What can I do about it when he won't talk to me?"_ Looking forward she saw Sasuke speeding ahead. _"Well, if I can't get Kame to talk I'll just talk to the one person who does talk to him to talk to me."_ She hurried to catch up with her sensei.

"Do you have anything on your mind Konki?" Sasuke asked before she could even open her mouth.

"Ehm, well yes. It's about Kame-kun."

"What about him?" Sasuke asked with an uninterested voice.

"I'm worried about him. He's always keeping to himself and won't talk to anyone but you. I want to help him to open up, but I don't know how. Could you give me any advice on it?"

Sasuke contemplated it for a second. "Don't bother with it. It's a mountain he has to climb by himself. If he doesn't soon however I'll have to recommend that he's stripped of his ninja rank."

"WHAT!" A quick look from Sasuke let Konki know that she should quiet down.

"But why can't I help him? Why can't you, he talks to you all the time. Can't you…" Sasuke interrupted her rambling with another, softer, look before answering her questions.

"The only thing he talks to me is practical ways to improve his abilities and skills. So you won't find anything useful there. As for why we can't help him. I can tell you that he's already met plenty of persons with much more experience than you. And they've already given him more advice than you could even think of. So I don't think that you will be able to tell him anything he hasn't already heard and ignored."

"But I'm his teammate, I should…" Konki tried to argue but it was quickly beaten to the ground.

"You've already said that he won't talk to you. As for why I can't do anything for him. Lets just say that I'm not what most would call a consoling person." Sasuke's face softened a bit.

"In short, he's already gotten all the help he needs and he hasn't accepted it. It's pretty obvious that he wants to deal with his personal problems by himself. Whether it's a conscious or subconscious decision I don't know. When or if he does that, he will still need friends. If you still want to help him at that time, that's when you can be there for him." Konki's face turned solemn and she allowed Sasuke to jump ahead.

With her mood slightly ruined Konki let the silence resume for the rest of the trip.

* * *

Eight hours later they reached an open field with an earth-road in the middle of it. It was surrounded by a thick forest on all sides, the road led into the forest on the other side of the field. Sasuke checked the map and confirmed that they were just a few miles away from the village. "We're about an hour ahead of schedule." He announced to the genins as he rolled up the map.

"Take a short break for lunch and we'll be on our…"

"HELP! PLEASE HELP ME!" An old voice shouted from the other side of the field. Team seven snapped their hands in the direction of the voice.

On the other side of the field an old man in a dark brown cloak, covering his head thus hiding his face, running towards them. At first there seemed to be no one following so Konki and Chouya started moving to meet him but they were stopped by Sasuke who observed the area closely.

Suddenly a huge fireball emerged from the forest heading towards the cloaked man.

Konki was horrified, even if she hadn't been stopped by Sasuke she still wouldn't have been able to save the poor man. All she could do now was to watch the poor man get incinerated.

Or that would've been the case if Sasuke hadn't appeared in front of the fireball and countered with a similar attack, except that his was of a grander scale. The collision of the two attacks resulted in a big explosion. Konki had to blink several times and check that Sasuke wasn't beside her anymore before she realised what had happened.

"_I didn't even notice __when he moved."_ She looked over at Chouya who seemed to be equally stunned at their sensei's speed.

Before the smoke cleared Sasuke turned to the cloaked man, picked him up and disappeared. The next moment both of them where right behind the three genin, who had barely been able to move during the whole thing.

"Konki, use your byakkugan." Sasuke ordered calmly. "Tell me how many we're dealing with." Still somewhat amazed at her instructor's show of speed the blonde quietly did as she was told.

"Three, there's three of them." She said after a few seconds. "They seem to be discussing something. They're all male, equally tall, have dark hair and…"

"Thank you. I just wanted to know how many of them there were." Sasuke said sternly and Konki quieted down instantly. "Alert me the instant they move."

"Konoha, you're the team from Konoha." The cloaked man said with a hoarse voice as he slowly stood up with Chouya's help.

"What are you talking about?" Sasuke asked uncaringly.

"The horse and the phoenix travel during the day." The man said as loudly as he could with desperation in his voice. Sasuke narrowed his eyes.

"Only if they have slept well during the night." The sharingan user answered cautiously.

"It is you," The man almost cried with joy. "Thank kami, I'm saved."

"How did you know our password?" Sasuke demanded.

"I'm the decoder from Kusa. My name is Mako. I'm supposed to decipher the code in…"

"One of them is charging us!" Konki interrupted with a shout and everybody tensed up.

Sasuke snapped around and saw that one of the mysterious attackers was indeed charging towards them, already in the middle forming the seal for an attack.

"Raiton: Raikou Yari!" The attacker yelled and tossed a spear-shaped lightning bolt at Konki before stopping in his tracks.

Sasuke pushed the blonde to the ground and countered the attack with an open palm that was glowing with electricity, causing the lightning chakra to cancel each other out.

An instant later the attacker's two comrades came rushing out of the forest. Like the one before they were also in the middle of making seals for an attack.

"Suiton: Assai Se!" One of them yelled as he then sprayed large amounts of water from his mouth that came rushing at the leaf-nin and decoder.

"Fuuton: Kaze Ken!" The other one shouted as he thrust his hands forward, making a sharp wind fly towards the group.

Sasuke frowned. There was something fishy going on here. But he didn't have time to think about it. Instead he bit his thumb and began making seals faster than anyone present could see.

"Kuchiyose no jutsu!" Sasuke slammed his open palm to the ground. Smoke exploded from the ground just as the two attacks were about to hit. The attacks connected with something and blew the smoke away as an inhuman scream of pain was heard. When the smoke had completely vanished a giant green snake was revealed encircling Sasuke, his team and Mako. Where the attacks had hit the snake there was a large bruise and bloody cut.

"We'd appreciated it if you didn't just us meat-shields brat." The snake snarled at Sasuke.

"Whatever. You can go now." The snake hissed angrily before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

As the smoke once again cleared the opposing sides stared into each other properly for the first time. The three attackers look almost exactly the same. Tall, thin and pale bodies with dark spiky hair. They were wearing net-shirts and black pants. The headbands, which were tied to their foreheads, displayed the insignia of Amegakure, only there were cuts across them.

Their faces were easy enough to read. They had an air of confidence and killing intent around them. Sasuke knew that he had to get his students out of here.

"My, my, my. You were right brother." The one in the middle said with a sadistic smirk playing across his face.

"Of course I was," The one to the right answered with glee.

"This will be so much fun. I've always wanted to fight the "Traitor"." The one to the right said with dark anticipation.

Sasuke sighed. "So you do know who I am. Although I'd prefer it if you didn't call me by that nickname. It's rather annoying. Don't you agree "Destruction Brothers"?"

In an extremely disturbing display the three men giggled like evil schoolgirls. Causing shivers to go down Kame's spine while Konki and Chouya merely cringed a little.

Konki decided to speak up, not wanting to remain ignorant of what was going on. "Sasuke-sensei, what's going on? Who are these men?" She immediately wished that she hadn't talked. Because the three men stopped giggling and started glaring at her as if she'd insulted them.

"They're a trio of missing-nins formally of the hidden rain village. They're quite infamous for leaving nothing but the ashes of whomever they fight as well as destroying the surrounding area of the fight." The jounin turned to the smirking trio. "Am I right?"

"That's us!" They said proudly in unison.

"They're monsters." Mako spat out. "They attacked us from behind and killed the genins almost instantly. I only managed to escape because my jounin escort fended them of."

The missing-nins once again giggled disturbingly. "Yeah, he was pretty mad when he fought us." The one in the middle said with a smile.

"So we just had to push him even further by toying with him before killing him." The one to the left said before laughing maliciously.

"And now we get to do it again!" The triplet to the right screeched as he looked on team seven with hunger in his eyes.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "Chouya, Kame, Konki," His students shifted their attention to their instructor. "These guys are too dangerous for you genin. So when I give the signal grab Mako and run to the border village."

"W-wh-what a-about you S-sasuke-s-s-sensei?" Kame stuttered out.

"Don't worry about me." Sasuke said calmly. "I'll take care of them and join up with you before long." Sensing that they were about to protest Sasuke gave his team a confident look.

"I promise I'll be ok. There's a reason I'm rank second in ability to the Hokage after all." He said reassuringly and then turned back to his opponents. "Now get ready."

The genins tensed up. Chouya's grip on Mako's arm tightened as Konki grabbed the other one.

"Hoho. The "Traitor" thinks that he can take us on all by himself does he?" The middle brother said with a superior voice before the three began laughing diabolically. It was at this moment that Sasuke attacked.

Springting forward faster than one can blink Sasuke elbowed the middle one in the gut, knocking the wind out of him and forcing him to his knees.

The brother to the right quickly recovered from the shock and began forming seals. He never got to finish as Sasuke grabbed his arm and forcefully slammed him into the brother to the left.

"GO NOW! RUN!" Sasuke bellowed and team seven obeyed, running as fast as they could while dragging Mako along with them.

"Oh no you don't!" One of the triplets jumped up to his feet and started running after the genins and decoder. He was stopped by a kunai with an exploding tag attached to it landing in front of him. He was unable to avoid the entire blast so he was tossed back to his brothers, whom helped him up to his legs.

Sasuke placed himself before the brothers, essentially reversing their previous positions.

Sasuke glanced over at the other side of the field and smirked when he saw his team entering the safety of the forest.

"There we go. Now I don't have to worry anymore and can focus all my attention on you freaks." Sasuke stated smugly, surprising the triplets who had hoped for another easy kill. "By the way "Destruction Brothers", what are your names? I like to know who it is I'm about to kill."

The triplets huffed, looking very insulted, before the middle one spoke up. "Your insolence is enough that we would not answer your question. However, your reputation makes you deserving of hearing them before your death. I am Toukai!" He shouted while striking a crane pose

"They call me Inmetsu!" The brother to the right yelled as he crouched down while making peace-signs with his hands and holding them above his head.

"And my name is Metsubou!" The one to the right screamed as he stood up straight, bowed his head and crossed his arms across his chest with his hands open.

Sasuke's entire body twichted. _"Their entire family must be retarded."_

"Anyway," The jounin said out loud. "I haven't had any real fun for a few months or so. So I'll give you a shot."

"And what do you mean by that?" Toukai asked curiously.

"I'll only use taijutsu techniques for the first five minutes. If you haven't killed me by then… let's just say that you won't last very long."

The anger in the triplets' face quickly grew at the insolent remark. Never had anyone insulted their abilities, at least they acted like that was the case.

"DIE YOU CONDESENDING BASTARD! DIE!" They roared and surrounded Saskue while preparing their attacks.

"_I think I'm going to enjoy this."_ Sasuke thought arrogantly as he jumped into the air.

* * *

"Do you think that Sasuke-sensei will be ok?" Konki asked as she looked back to field.

"He told us not to worry, so I think that he'll be fine." Chouya answered serenely.

Ever since they had left the field they had stayed on the earth-road which, according to Mako would lead them directly to the border village. The genins would've preferred to take to the trees and avoid detection. But as a man long past his prime Mako had insisted that they stayed on the ground.

"We should be able to see the village as soon as we exit the forest." Mako huffed. He was proven to be right as the road lead them to a quite picturesque area. The border village could be seen in the distance. It was surrounded by grassy hills and small patches of forest. From their vantage point they could just barely make out the bed of a river beside the village. In front of them there was a plane road leading to a downhill slope as the road passed a large tree.

"Does anybody have any idea of what we should do once we actually get to the village?" Couya asked.

"M-maybe ch-check into a h-ho-hotel." Kame suggested.

"Nah, I think that it would be best if we hid ourselves somewhere inconspicuous. Like a barn." The daughter of the Hokage said.

"And if they don't have any barns?" Chouya countered.

"We'll think of something." Konki muttered. As they reached the aforementioned tree she looked back at the field. "Hold on guys. I want to check up on Sasuke-sensei."

"Fine by me." Mako panted, making it even more clear that he wasn't made for this kind of exertion, as they slowed down to a stop. The still cloaked decoder leaned against a lone tree while the three genin just took a few deep breathes.

"I d-don't th-think it's s-s-smart to stop." Kame protested.

"It'll be fine. I just want to how Sasuke-sensei is doing." Konki activated her byakugan and focused it on the forest, hoping that she would have the range necessary to see Sasuke's battle. Before she could confirm anything however the blonde saw something much more important to their current situation.

"Mako-san, get down!" She screamed and ran towards the man.

The old man just had time to look up just before he got pushed to the ground by Konki. At the very same moment a spear went above the two and pierced the tree Mako had been leaning on.

Konki got off of Mako and joined a tense Kame and battle-ready Chouya, who were both staring at the forest.

"Damnit, did Sasuke-sensei lose already?" Chouya theorised, saying out loud what the others were thinking.

Their fears were put to rest as suddenly three shapes jumped out of the forest. They were however not the "Destruction Brothers" that Sasuke were currently fighting. Unlike the triplets the three individuals in front of team seven had very different appearances. Two of them were male and the third was a girl.

"Heh, you missed the old man, Yaiba. And here I thought that your aim was infallible." A young man with a large, muscular body said. His dark-blue hair was short and spiky and his green eyes that seemed to scream for a fight. He was wearing a purple shirt, a pair of beat-up grey trousers and a flowing, poison green jacket. There was a village head-band tied to his right arm, but it was missing any village sign. He was holding a long, black trident with gold markings.

"Shut up Same! It wasn't my fault. The girl knew somehow and was fast enough to save the old man." The one called Yaiba said. He was slightly shorter than Same and his muscles were leaner. He was wearing black pants and a white belt around his waist. There was no clothing on his upper body, which had several red tattoos of the different kanjis for sword or blade. He had no head-band. His stark orange hair was cut into a short mohawk. His brown eyes showed huge amounts of anger under his, relatively, calm exterior.

"Considering her eyes and where she comes from I'd say that she's of the Hyuuga clan." The girl said. She had long, light purple hair that was tied into a thick rattail and two pig tails on either side of it. Her green eyes showed a certain playfulness that was absent from her comrades. She was wearing a black halterneck top and a matching skirt that reached down to right above her ankles. It had slits on both sides, giving her legs a fair amount of freedom. A head-band with the sign for the hidden rock village was tied around her waist. Like the triplets' headbands the village emblem was crossed over. In her hands were two large stone mallets.

"Hm, you might right Oru." Same said as he focused a little more on Konki. "If she really is of the Hyuuga clan then I want to kill her. They're supposed to be a tough bunch of snobs."

"No way," Yaiba said indignantly. "She messed up my kill. The brat is mine."

An internal fight seemed to be underway but it was stopped when the two heard an interrupting cough. They turned to Konki, who had taken a step forward.

"I hate to interrupt you when you're deciding who gets to kill who. But would you mind telling us how old you are?" Yaiba and Same looked at her as if she was stupid.

"Me and Yaiba-kun are 14 while Same is a nice 16 year old boy." Oru said answered without hesitation. "YOU DON'T TELL THE ENEMY STUFF LIKE THAT!" The two boys yelled at the unfazed female.

"Right." Konki muttered with an air of confidence. "I figured that our instructor didn't let us fight those weird-ass brothers because they were too experienced for us. You guys on the other hand. You're more our age-group. So I'm pretty sure that we can beat you guys just fine." She crossed her arms as she said this. "Am I right guys?" She asked her teammates loudly.

"There's a certain logic to it." Chouya said with a smirk.

"I g-guess s-so." Kame avoided looking anywhere but the sky.

"There you see. If you want to kill the old man, you're going to have to go through us."

With that the challenge was thrown and an eerie silence cut across the area. Same was the first to break it.

"Heh, you got some guts leaf-brat. I like that in people I kill." He licked his lips hungrily. "I guess that we can spare some time on you punks before we grab the scroll…"

"And kill the old man." Yaiba stated with a reprimanding voice.

Same rolled his eyes. "Whatever, let's just get this party started."

With that the large boy charged at team seven and the battle had begun.

* * *

**Authors note**: Ok, that took much longer than I thought to write. I blame the middle part of it. It was tricky for some reason.

Oh and that thing I said about chapters being shorter the second one. Forget it, the chapters will be whatever length they end up being.

And that's it. Now my dear readers, you just have to review it.


	4. Losing is life

**Disclaimer**: If I owned Naruto would I really be writing this fanfic?

After one finished exam delaying me I decided to get this up before the next one. It's my first chapter with action as its focus. I think I did pretty well with it. Any help critique you guys would have for this area is greatly appreciated. Oh and just to warn the really squeamish, the F-word appears in this chapter.

So without further ado here's the next chapter of Neo Shinobi.

**4. Losing is life**

So far there were few moments in his life where Koudanshi could say that he had been terrified for his personal well-being. Whatever the number was sparring with a pissed-off Mikomi had increased it by a factor of one.

For the last ten minutes or so the blue haired boy had been doing his best to dodge vicious punches, fierce kicks and large rocks being thrown at him. The thought of even trying to counter attack had vanished from his thoughts when his teammate's first strike nearly dislocated his shoulder, and it would have if he hadn't rolled with the punch. Right now, his main priority was to just survive the sparring session.

He wasn't actually sure that he could call what they were doing sparring. It seemed more like a version of tag, only getting tagged would mean an extended hospital visit to mend his shattered bones. Whatever one would label their exercise he needed to stop it before he really did get injured, or worse.

"Mikomi-chan," He began while ducking under a blow that cracked the tree behind him. "Could we please take a break? I'm feeling a bit tired." He continued, with a hint of desperation in his voice, as he dodged to the left to avoid a hurtful looking downward kick that cracked the ground.

"What are you talking about?" Mikomi growled. "I haven't begun to sweat yet." She threw another punch which Koudanshi managed to narrowly block by putting his arms in front of his chest. He was still sent flying though, and skidded nicely on his back as he hit the ground.

"Yes, and your stamina is most impressive." The blue-haired boy commented as he picked himself up. "But I still think that we need to STOP!" He screamed the last part and raised his hands in defence to stop the bulldozing, purple-haired girl from knocking his head of.

Luckily Mikomi did stop, her fist inches away from Koudanshi's face. However, Mikomi was still looking quite pissed. "And why, pray tell, do you want to stop sparring?" His instincts told Koudanshi that he was not going to like where this was going.

"Is it because you find my skills so inferior that it's not worth anything to even train with me?!" Her voice became more like a roar with each word. "Or is it because you find it tedious to practice with a girl and you'd much rather do this with Kihano or Lee-sensei." Koudanshi was becoming rather flustered and tried to explain himself but was interrupted. "Or maybe you, and everybody else, just want me to get lost so you can all throw praise at little miss…"

"Iwantedtostopbecauseifwecontinuedanyfurtheryouwouldhaveinjuredmegreatly!" Koudanshi screamed, ending Mikomi's triad abruptly and leaving the Uchiha heir looking like a big question mark.

"You're afraid that I would beat you?" She asked incredulously.

"It's more that I'm afraid that your current temperament combined with your skills and strength would hurt me beyond repair." Koudanshi correct sheepishly. "Just look at what you've done to the surrounding area. Not to mention your fists."

For the first time today Mikomi let her eyes wander across the area in which they had been sparring and she realised that her friend was right. Everywhere she looked there small holes and trenches in the ground. Trees were cracked and/or bent out of shape. Large rocks littered the area in the most peculiar places.

The purple-haired girl then looked at her own hands. They were dirtier than ever before, and all that punching had cracked her knuckles. "Mom's not going to like this." Mikomi lamented as she sat down on the ground.

"You've been upset all week Mikomi-chan." Koudanshi stated as he sat down in front of her. "And as much as I like to help you anyway I can I would prefer it if it didn't involve venting your anger upon my person. Please, just tell me what's been bothering you."

For a moment she didn't say anything. The young Uchiha just stared into the ground before answering with a childish pout on her face. "I want a C-mission." She said briefly.

Koudanshi cocked his head to the right in confusion. "Why?"

Mikomi sighed before continuing with low voice that her teammate could barely hear. "I met Hinata-sama at lunch. She said that Konki's team got to go on a C-mission."

"And that upsets you?" Koudanshi asked with an analyzing voice.

"Yes!" Mikomi suddenly proclaimed loudly, catching Koudanshi of guard, before going into a short but speedy triad. "Because now dad will have another excuse to rank down on me for having the audacity to not get a C-mission five weeks after I became a genin, and at the same time praise Konki for whatever incredible heroics she'll pull while they're away!" She stopped there to catch her breath and the blue-haired boy took this opportunity to toss in his two cents on the matter.

"As long as we fulfil the tasks given to us I am certain that we will eventually reach the point where we're entrusted with a C-ranked mission. And then you shall see that your father will show the same amount of appreciation as he does with Konki-san." The blue boy smiled brightly at Mikomi, thinking that he had ended her moping fit. Those thoughts were quickly washed away when the girl in question laughed evilly.

"One, for every one mission our team actually does well there're three that has us breaking at least one thing. So I doubt that the hokage and village council are ready to trust us with anything more difficult than walking a cat. By the time we do manage to get a C-mission Konki's team will probably be making their way through A-missions."

While he didn't enjoy admitting it, she did have a point. More often than not there seemed to be something that kept them from completely finishing the mission. It usually involved something being violently broken and the customers wanting compensation for whatever had been destroyed. It really cut down the amount of money that they were paid for each mission.

"Two," Mikomi continued. "You obviously don't know my dad. Sure, he'll be polite at times, and sometimes even fatherly. But most of the time he will just degrade me, for no reason I might add." Her expression was growing sadder with each word and Koudanshi was beginning to panic. This was not going how he had hoped it would. Since he didn't know what to do the shinobi prodigy decided for a drastic course of action.

"You are right. I do not know your father. But from what you have told me he is clearly a fool." At this statement Mikomi looked up at her teammate, confusion apparent in her eyes. "Mikomi-chan, it is without a single doubt in my mind that I say this. You are an accomplished shinobi with great potential, and although you're a little rough," He gestured at the damaged trees and Mikomi nodded in agreement. "You more than make up for it with passion and determination." Mikomi looked down at the ground to hide the smile and blush combo that was creeping up on her face. "And I'm not the only one who sees it. Lee-sensei often comments on how impressed he is with your strength of body and heart."

Mikomi looked up again, meeting Koudanshi's eyes. "You really mean that?" She asked, as if trying to ascertain that it wasn't just a daydream she was having.

"If your father truly cannot see what I and Lee-sensei can then I think that my earlier statement about him is correct." Koudanshi said this while hoping that nobody besides Mikomi would notice that he was being disrespectful to a senior shinobi. Then he glanced at Mikomi. She was wearing a grateful smile on her face, and like that all his worries were washed away.

"_Oh well, as long as Mikomi-chan is happy I guess there's no harm done._"

"Thanks…" She whispered softly and got up on her feet again. "If you still want to, we can get back to training now. I promise that I'll take it easy on you." She teased and offered him her hand. Koudanshi gladly accepted it and she pulled him up.

"You know," Koudanshi started as they got into their respective fighting stances. "From what I've gathered, C-missions aren't all that eventful. It's likely that nothing exciting at all will befall Konki-san and her team."

* * *

Konki jumped backwards into the air one moment before Same's trident speared the ground where she had been standing. An instant later Yaiba used Same's back as a springboard to follow the blonde kunoichi.

"Hey," Same yelled. "Don't go stealing my prey now!" He lifted up the trident and got ready to follow. That's when Chouya grabbed the trident with an empowered arm, stopping the large boy in his tracks.

Chouya smirked at Same's surprised face before calmly saying. "Don't focus all your attention on only one of us. It's insulting." The short girl then forcefully shoved the blunt end of the trident into Same's gut, knocking the breath out of him.

Before Same could react properly Chouya sprung forward and hit him with a fisted backhand across the chest, sending him flying backwards. Thinking that he at least would get knocked out the brown-haired girl was surprised to see that he managed to land on his feet. The only sign that he had been attacked was his heavy breathing.

"Brat." He growled and ran towards the Akimichi heir.

"Fun." Chouya said with dreamlike happiness and did the same.

Meanwhile Konki and Yaiba had landed and engaged each other in close combat. The orange-haired boy was forcing Konki back with a seemingly endless combo of quick kicks aimed at her torso and head.

"_Damn, this guy sure likes kicking._" The blonde thought as she frantically dodged kicks, patiently getting used to her assailant's speed, timing and movement. Then she remembered something Sasuke had said during their first week as a team. "_You can never just attack or defend. There has to be a balance between the two. If there isn't you might as well paint a target on your chest._"

Thinking that her opponent seemed abnormally focused on offence Konki decided to take a chance and counter. After dodging under a sharp kick aimed at her head, the blonde activated her byakugan and attacked Yaiba's mid-section. The older boy reacted just in time to escape the full burnt of the by jumping back. He was too late to avoid the attack entirely and was grazed by the juuken slap. The affect of the attack became apparent when Yaiba bit down in pain before meeting Konki's triumphant eyes.

"So you really are of the Hyuga clan then. Had to make myself sure of that." Yaiba grunted before biting the tips of his thumbs.

"I'm actually…" Konki began, unaware that she was about to go into a pointless rant.

"I don't really care." The orange-haired boy grazed his bleeding thumbs over his forearms, which had identical kanjis tattooed on them. An instant later he seemingly pulled twin katanas out the forearms, shocking the blonde girl.

"Normally I would assert that you are truly worthy to be killed by these swords before taking them out. But since I'm in a bit of a hurry I'll make an exception just for you." Konki gulped as her opponent glared fiercely at her. But she remained steadfast. "_Well, this is my life now._" She took the standard juuken stance and met Yaiba's glare with a look of determination.

"Bring it on." She said, and he complied.

During all this the young trapmaster of team seven was plagued by uncertainty on how to act. One part of him told the black-haired boy to just let his teammates fend for themselves, take Mako and run to the village. Another part told him to grow up and help them. Whenever he tried to listen to either of the voices the other one made him freeze up.

"_Shit!_" He cursed at himself."_Why can't I move? I'm supposed to be better than…_" That's when the decision was made for him. Instinctively he jumped back to avoid getting crushed when Oru smashed the ground with her hammers.

When Kame's feet touched the ground again he looked up at Oru, fear blatantly showing on his face. The black-haired boy's terror-struck expression was met with one of the friendliest smiles he had ever seen. In fact, the purple-haired girl seemed to be strangely calm considering the situation they were in.

"I must apologise for breaking you out of whatever daydream you were having but I was getting bored just standing around while Yaiba-kun and Same got to have fun. In short, I'm going to beat you up now and then kill you." She with a saint-like smile.

Kame blinked in confusion before responding. "What?"

"You do have a great robe though. Would you mind if I take it after you die?" She asked sincerely.

"Y-y-yes I wou-would m-mind." Oru giggled at the stammer causing Kame to blush and divert his eyes reflexively. A second later he realised that he had taken his eyes off of his opponent. He looked up and ducked to the left just in time to avoid getting his head smashed by one of Oru's hammers.

The black-haired boy jumped back to gain some distance for a range attack. But his opponent was hot on his tail. Side-stepping to the left he evaded a blow that left a large imprint on the ground. With a back-flip he dodged a strike to his ribs. When he landed the trapmaster had to bend to the right to avoid getting his chest smashed in. Oru's hammer seemingly missed its target, but that was not the case.

Kame noticed that the purple-haired girl stopped her arm in mid-swing so that the hammer ended up next to his side. Oru swung the hammer in a sideways arc and finally managed to hit her elusive target right above the ribs.

The last surviving Odayaka was flung away several meters before crashing to the ground. Oru slowly sauntered towards her downed foe.

"You could make it easier on yourself and just let me kill you. I promise that it will be quick and painless." She had barely finished the sentence before Kame rolled to face her and quickly threw a shuriken that lightly cut Oru's cheek.

The trapmaster then launched several shuriken and kunai at the purple-haired girl as he slowly got up. All of which she managed to knock out the air with her hammers. However, her sunny disposition had turned darker.

"You cut my face." She angrily growled as she knocked away the last of the tossed shuriken. "Screw quick and painless, you're going to suffer. And I am so taking that robe once you die."

Kame remained silent, mostly because he was too scared to talk, and pulled out more shuriken. Ready to fight for his survival.

A short distance away from the fighting shinobi Mako was watching on in fear. In his mind he knew that the most logical thing to do would run and hide in the border village. But he couldn't, not after seeing who it was that was after him.

"_So you've finally decided to come for me kid. Well, I guess I deserve it. I just wish that you wouldn't involve these kids._" The decoder looked of in the direction where they had left Sasuke with the Destruction Brothers. "_Please hurry up konoha jounin. Or your students will die._"

* * *

Sasuke liked to think of himself as a man who kept his word no matter what. But right now he was seriously regretting ever having taken that direction, and that he had sworn of from using ninjutsu and genjutsu for five minutes. Not because dodging several attacks of different elemental affinities at once was harder than he thought it would be. It was because the three morons he was fighting were so annoying that he just wanted to put a chidori through their faces.

"What do you say "Traitor"? Can you take the heat?" One of the triplets shouted as Sasuke jumped into the air to avoid getting scorched by another ones fire blast.

"_One minute, just one more minute._" Sasuke repeated in his head.

"Futon: Renkuudan!" One of the triplets launched a compact bullet made out of air at the still falling Sasuke. Staying true to his earlier boasting Sasuke didn't use any ninjutsu to defend himself and was hit square in the chest.

The jounin violently crashed to the ground. He would've liked to just lie there and rest for a few seconds before going back into action. But such luck did not befall him as one of the triplets was trying to blast him with a lightning bolt. So he sucked it up and in a flash he dashed of his left, thus avoiding being flash-fried.

Sasuke didn't stop moving as lightning bolts rained after him. He focused his attention on the rapid lightning based attacks and barely noticed when pillars of earth and stone shot up at him from the ground. He threw up his arms in defence right before the pillars blasted him into the air. Ignoring the pain Sasuke flipped in mid-air and landed on his feet, happy that the lightning bolts seemed to have stopped.

Sliding somewhat as he landed Sasuke surveyed the once luscious field that had now become a battle ground. It almost seemed like there had been a small war going on in the area. The ground was torn up, burnt and/or muddied by the various attacks that had been thrown around with a frightening combo of callousness and coordination.

"_They sure do live up to their nick-name. I'm just lucky this isn't in a populated area. The casualties and property damages would've been staggering._"

He didn't have any more time to dwell on that however as he noticed that the triplets had surrounded him again and begun preparing their individual attacks.

"Well, well, well." One of them mused. "Looks like the "Traitor" has gotten himself in a little over his head." Sasuke responded with indifferent silence.

"Indeed, not so cocky now, are you "Traitor"." Another mocked Sasuke who remained stoic.

"Yeah. Despite your boasting you've barely been able to hit us. But we've been beating you around this field. What do you have to say to that?" The last one shouted gleefully. Sasuke remained silent.

"I see." The first triplet said devilish. "You've accepted that you've met your match and now you are readying yourself for a swift death. An admirable, if somewhat cowardly choice. We shall gladly cooperate. Let him have it brothers!"

"Suiton: Mizurappa." The second triplet expelled a powerful stream of water that came crashing towards Sasuke who soundlessly jumped into the air. The other brothers were quick to react.

"Katon: Karyuu Endan!" The first brother blew a large stream of fire into the air.

"Raiton: Kongou Ya!" The last brother thrust his open right palm into the air and released a thin lightning bolt that streak towards Sasuke.

The two attacks hit their target dead on and incinerated it.

"Well that's that." One of the triplets said as they walked over to the charred remains that had fallen to the ground. Taking in their moment of victory they once again giggled disturbingly before the same brother spoke once again.

"I know that this victory is an incredible step for us my brothers. But we have not finished our mission just yet. The children remain. Let us hurry." Madly grinning the frightening missing-nin were about to depart when a voice from behind took them by surprise.

"I have to say that I'm kind of impressed here. Forcing me to use a ninjutsu technique 32 seconds before my five minutes were up. I've clearly underestimated you three." Not really wanting to believe it the destruction brothers were stunned to silence and just stood in front of Sasuke with their mouths open.

"It cannot be." The middle one stated in disbelief.

"We watched you burn." The one to the right continued.

"You should be dead!" The left one finished.

"I don't blame you for thinking that. A log burnt to crisps probably resembles a man burnt to crisps." The jounin said with a mocking tone as he saw realisation hit his opponents.

"Whatever. We brought you to the brink of defeat and we can do it again!" The left triplet yelled and got agreeing comments from his brothers. Sasuke just smirked.

"I doubt that. Let me show you why." He pointed to the brother to the left. "You're Toukai," Then to the middle one. "You're Metsubou," And lastly to the one on the right. "And you're Inmetsu." The missing-nins horrified faces pleased Sasuke more than it probably should.

"How did you know?!" Metsubou asked.

"The trick to winning any ninja battle is to see through your opponent's technique." His voice was calm yet serious. "I'm going to guess that you guys usually win your battles by moving around so quickly that your opponents can keep track of you all. Since you look exactly alike not being able to see where even one of you guys go would cause serious trouble for lesser ninjas." He looked menacingly into their eyes, scaring the triplets. "But you can't fool me with a trick like that."

"That still doesn't explain how you knew which of us was which!" Toukai yelled, frustrated with Sasuke's attitude.

The jounin chuckled darkly. "Your elemental techniques gave you away." Understanding grazed the triplets' faces. "Nobody can master all the elemental affinities. Most people will only manage one or two. You guys belong to those people. From the very start I've kept track of you and pinpointing your elements wasn't that difficult. Toukai uses lightning techniques, Metsubou handles water and win and Inmetsu has fire and earth affinities. Once I figured all that out your strategy became clear as day to me." Sasuke smirked confidently at the Destruction Brothers' nervous expressions. "Now then, let me show you what I can really do."

He took a step forward, and immediately regretted it. Sasuke's buckled a little and he bit down in pain. With this demonstration his entire aura of superiority rapidly diminished. Like ravenous jackals the Destruction Brothers noticed the weakness in their prey.

"Hah, your pompous boasting seems to have been premature "Traitor"." Metsubou teased while rubbing his hands together.

"Your over-confidence in your physical abilities has left you weakened. With your body damaged victory is still ours." Toukai triumphantly declared and cracked his knuckles.

"The Destruction Brothers shall have your head yet Uchiha Sasuke!" Inmetsu shouted and all three went into their respective poses.

Sasuke sighed. "Fine, I admit that you got me before and that I'm not operating at 100 because of it. But don't think that it will change the outcome of this battle."

The brothers stood right up again and faced of against the Uchiha patriarch.

"Well then, bring it on "Traitor"." Toukai challenged, causing a vein to appear on Sasuke.

"I thought I told you," Electricity surrounded Sasuke's left arm and his eyes shifted into the famous sharingan. "Don't call me that."

"Heh, looks like we hit a nerve." Toukai said and the triplets grinned.

Sasuke growled so silently that only he could hear it. Then, he attacked.

* * *

Konki dodge to the left, avoiding a downward slash from her opponent's katana. Yaiba followed up by stabbing at the blonde girl. She jumped to the right but the blade still managed to cut her side ever so slightly.

The young Hyuga launched herself at the missig-nin. As she was about to launch a juuken slap at his left arm Yaiba slashed at her head with that very arm. Konki had to quickly halt herself and jump back so as to not become drastically shorter. Yaiba chased after her and slashed at Konki's right arm. She bended to the left, and once again avoided most of the damage. But just like before the sword cut her arm just a little.

The two shinobi leapt apart to size up one another and think up new strategies as their current ones obviously weren't effective enough.

It had been like this ever since Yaiba brought out his blades. While the juuken was as deadly as any sword, Yaiba's katanas gave him a superior reach. Yaiba had used this advantage to the fullest, never letting Konki get in close enough to even poke him. But it wasn't enough of an advantage to take her down apparently. Instead she had gotten several small cuts across her arms and torso. While her frustration with each new cut did amuse Yaiba it wasn't the same as chopping of her limbs.

"_Logic dictates that I'll eventually land a hit at one of her vital points or limbs. But the way this is going that might not be for a long while. I'd rather finish this now._" His gripped on the katana's tightened as he decided to finish this the next time she attacked.

"Come now little Hyuga-girl. Surely this isn't the best you can do." He goaded.

Konki's left eye twitch in annoyance. "_The jerk wants it though huh. I'll show him tough!_" Her mouth curved itself into an evil smirk, making Yaiba raise an eyebrow.

"You're right this isn't the best I can do. You have your trump card out." She put her hands together in the ram seal. "Let me show you mine! Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Six clones appeared around Konki, all poised for a fight. Yaiba narrowed his eyes. "And like I tried to tell you before. I'm an Uzumaki, not a Hyuga. Get him!"

Two of clones rushed at the orange haired missing-nin who swung his left sword in a wide arc. At first it seemed like he attacked far too early, but like any good ninja he had a trick up his sleeve.

"Extend!" Blue chakra energy surrounded the blade and shoot out three meters, more than enough to let the swing tear through the surprised clone duo like nothing.

Konki's eyes, as well as her clones' eyes, grew in shock and disbelief. They didn't get much time for thinking as Yaiba had a chakra blade grow out of the other sword as well. Only this one raced towards Konki's head.

The blonde dodged the attack, but was scratched across the shoulder, and her clones spread out. Konki frowned as she summoned up two new clones to replace the lost ones. The last cut had gone deeper than the others and was beginning to bleed.

"_The chakra extension is sharper than the actual blade. He could seriously cut me in half with those things._" She concluded as the six Konki's surrounded her opponent. "_No mistakes from now on. Any wrong moves and I'm dead. And yet I can't stop thinking how fun this is._"

"Do you still want this, girl? If you would choose to run now I promise to not hunt you down for wasting my time." His voice was hauntingly calm yet filled with a suppressed rage.

"Huh, you really don't know the Uzumaki family, do you?" Yaiba turned his gaze to the blonde girl that had spoken to him. Her eyes were burning with excitement. "When we begin something, we see it through to the very end. Besides, why would I ditch now when we're having so much fun?" She smirked teasingly, causing Yaiba to snarled in-spite of himself.

"Your choice brat. No more mercy cards from me."

The missing-nin swung his two swords, chakra blades forming and extending from them, as the identical girls attacked in unison.

* * *

The heir of the Akimichi-clan cursed under her breath as she missed her target, again. Same had proven to be surprisingly quick and agile for his size and had managed to avoid her attacks fairly easily. This time he had managed to summersault over her punch, and her. While flipping over the brown-haired girl Same stuck out his trident and raked the sharp tips of the weapon across her back.

Warm blood sipped out of the wound and Chouya gritted her teeth in pain. The cut was mostly superficial, but it still hurt like hell. Ignoring her body screaming for her to take it easy for a second the short girl spun around and faced her opponent. He was charging her with his trident positioned to pierce her heart, a move he seemed to enjoy greatly.

She quickly brought out a pair of kunais and used them to barely block the weapon's sharp end, locking the two shinobi in a face-off.

"Your blood smells absolutely delicious. I bet that it'll make a great drink once I get rid of all the meaty parts."

Chouya frowned at the thought of her blood being used a beverage. Getting her act together she began pushing him back with her chakra-empowered arms. The surprised expression on Same's face made her smirk. The smirk didn't stay on her face for long as Same's face shifted into an evil grin. That was when she noticed the tiny blue chakra orbs forming at the three ends of the trident.

"_Shit!_" She screamed in her head and tried to react. But it was too late.

"Suiton: Focused Tidal Wave!" The blue orbs exploded into three powerful water blasts joining together before they had even reached Chouya. When they did she was easily swept away. The air was sharply knocked out of her and she forced her eyes shut. As sudden as the attack had come it ended with Chouya crashing to the ground.

She coughed up water that had been swallowed and almost didn't notice the descending shadow. It is a testament to Chouya's strength of will that she is able to roll away, while her body was still in shock no less, before Same and his trident smashed into her.

Chouya kicked herself up and put her arms up in a defensive stance. An instant later Same once again attempted to skewer her. The short girl did mange to sidestep most of her opponents attack but was still cut across her right arm.

Same laughed from behind her back, the superiority in his voice was as clear as the sun. Chouya was getting sick of it.

Without hesitation she turned around and smashed the ground next to Same's feet as forcefully as she could. The result was a small shockwave that knocked the large missing-nin of balance for a few seconds. In those few seconds Chouya struck him with a double-fisted uppercut that would've sent Same flying if his opponent hadn't grabbed a hold of his ankles.

"Hey, what are you doing?!" Chouya didn't respond. Instead she spun him around and around, faster and faster. Then, without warning, she used the gained momentum and tossed Same into the air and towards the forest behind them.

When she heard a crash in the from a short distance Chouya fell to her knees and panted heavily, relived for the few seconds of rest she had gotten.

"_I am not suited to do battle against this man, and it is doubtful that he is permanently taken out of the battle. I need to switch with one of the others._" She looked over to her teammates' situation and quickly found who she could trade with. Now she just needed to get up on her legs.

* * *

"ARGH!" Oru screamed as she stepped on more of the caltrops Kame had dropped on the ground. She flailed her arms about and barely managed to stay upright.

Once she had steadied herself the purple haired girl sent a glare towards Kame, who stood a few meters away from her with his arms crossed and shurikens in his hands. He would've looked cool if it wasn't for the obvious apprehension in his face.

Kame had managed to keep a safe distance from his opponent by moving away from her while constantly throwing shuriken at her approaching form. Forcing her to focus on deflecting the metal stars with her hammers, which had proven to be a surprisingly good defence.

While doing that he had also surrounded her with caltrops to the point where it was difficult for her to take a single step without hurting herself on them. And that's where they were now.

Hoping to end the fight quickly the black haired boy tossed the lethal projectiles in his hands almost perfectly at the hammer wielding kunoichi.

Oru scoffed at the projectiles and easily knocked them all out of the air. Then something that she hadn't expected happened. Two of the shurikens seemed to come to life and re-direct themselves in mid-air, attacking her anew.

The attack surprised her and she wasn't able to raise her hammers fast enough to stop the metal stars from hitting their targets. Luckily for her it wasn't her person that was being assaulted. They were stuck to the hammers' wooden handles.

Seeing them up close Oru noticed a tiny string attached to the shurikens, string that lead back to the hands of her nervous opponent. The next instant Kame pulled on the strings, snapping them free from the shuriken. Oru heard a fizzling sound from them and knew exactly what was going to happen.

So she threw the hammers high into the air where they exploded violently.

As bits and pieces of the hammers' remain fell to the ground Oru glared into Kame's eyes and as always he averted his gaze to something less nerve-wrecking, like his shoes.

"Man, you're turning out to be a real douche of a ninja." The girl stated with a voice that seemed to be both angry as well as sad. Though intrigued, Kame decided that his shoes were still more preferable that making eye contact. "I mean, it's bad enough that you've cut my face but now you're insulting me too."

Kame was somewhat baffled by this statement, causing him to temporarily to abandon his shy demeanour long enough to talk. "I h-ha-haven't d-done an-anything t-t-to insult yo-you."

"You could have killed me just now. But you didn't, jerk." Oru said as if it was a completely rational thing to say.

But since it wasn't, Kame responded like most people would. "What?"

"We're shinobi. When we fight we do it to the death." Her voice was becoming angrier with every word. "You could've stuck the shuriken into my body and have them explode. That would've ended the fight and possibly killed me." Kame realised that she did have a point but said nothing.

"Instead you just destroyed my weapons and gave me plenty of time to avoid not blowing up with them. Don't you see how insulting that is to a fellow warrior?!" Kame continued his silent approach just that now he was also hanging his head in shame.

"Hmph. No response huh. Man, I was hoping for somebody fun. But you're about as boring as they come." Suddenly her disposition changed back to a more upbeat one. "Oh well, I'll just have to kill you quickly then and be over with this."

As she gently pushed away a few of the caltrops in front of her Kame lifted his head and blankly stared at her while sweating.

"_I don't want to kill you._" He thought numbly while she bit her thumb.

"_I'll just see __**them**__ again._" She had begun to form a chain of hand seals.

"_Please don't make me kill you._" He raised his face and looked at the purple haired girl with pleading eyes.

"Kuchiyose no jutsu!" Oru slammed her hand to the ground and a large cloud of smoke exploded into existence. As the cloud scattered Kame could see Oru sitting onto of an unusually large, black bull with red horns and hoofs.

"Oushimaru-kun." She said with a sugar-sweet voice. "Could you please remove all these nasty caltrops for me please?" The bull growled in acknowledgement. It lifted its frontlegs up into the air and they began to glow. It then slammed them to the ground, creating a shockwave that blasted the caltrops all away and knocked Kame on his ass.

"That's my Oushimaru-kun!" Oru screamed in childish triumph. Then her voice became sinister. "Now, kill him." Without delay the bull rushed at the currently paralysed trapaster.

When most people are faced with a life-and-death situation like this they usually see their life flash before their eyes. That's not the case with Odayaka Kame, he wouldn't let that happen. Instead concentrated on a single thought stuck in his head.

"_Maybe it's for the best._"

Oushimaru came closer and closer, shaking the ground with each step. His head lowered so that his now glowing horns would certainly skewer his target. Oru sat on top of the summoned bull, happily cheering for Oushimaru to kill the brat that had insulted her.

There was less than a meter between the tip of those dangerous horns and Kame, who had pushed up his upper-body from the ground. This was it, Kame was going to die.

Or that would've been the case if a timely and powerful shoulder-tackle from a certain brown haired girl hadn't knocked the bull and its rider away in the nick of time.

"While I am not sure why you're in a trance Kame-san I would appreciate it if you picked yourself up now." Chouya said with a steadfast voice as she stood before the boy with her back turned to him. The directness of the comment snapped Kame out of his funk, somewhat, and he slowly got up.

"Would you mind telling me why you were about to let that girl and her bull kill you?" She asked, never taking her eyes of her new targets. Kame decided to give her a brief version of it.

"M-m-my th-therapist calls i-it a s-state of r-re-regression."

The short girl glanced at him with a sceptical eye. She wasn't satisfied with the answer but she decided to pick up the subject at a less dangerous occasion.

"Well, while you were almost killing yourself I momentarily disposed of Same." She informed him. "His style of fighting was a bad match for mine and I believe that we would both benefit from switching opponents. Does that sound ok with you?"

"I g-guess…" Kame began making Chouya sigh.

"You little bitch!" Oru screamed as she and Oushimaru had turned to Chouya.

"Oh look, she's up again." Chouya said mostly to herself and smirked.

"Your new opponent should be coming out of the forest by now Kame-san." The black haired boy looked over to the forest and Chouya was indeed correct. The large missing-nin was stomping towards them and he did not look happy.

"Hey Oru!" Same shouted. "Don't you steal my prey too!"

Kame stared at the trident wielding shinobi approaching them. The trapmaster gulped.

"Oh, don't be such a fuddy duddy Same!" Oru answered. "You can have the boy. You'll like him. I bet he'll scream a lot more when he dies than she will!"

"That's not the point! I've already had to switch prey once today! It's not something I can tolerate!" Chouya and Kame stood back to back eying their opponents.

"You know, if this goes on like this they might kill each other for us." Chouya joked. Kame nodded hesitantly.

"Well you're just going to have to make due with…" Oru was interrupted by an explosion coming from where Konki and Yaiba were fighting.

A second later the aforementioned blonde girl came soaring through the sky and almost crashed into Chouya. But the brown-haired girl had enough presence to duck just in time. So Konki slammed into Kame instead, knocking him to the ground.

"Ow." Konki whined as she got up. "I probably shouldn't try that again."

* * *

**3 minutes earlier…**

Konki back up as fast as she could, barely managing to avoid getting cut down the middle.

The extending chakra blades had given Yaiba more of an advantage that Konki had thought they would. With the large area Yaiba could cover with wide sweeps the swords proved to be a perfect counter for Konki's multiplying tactics. It had already forced the blonde to go through two sets of clones.

Seeing that kage bunshin no jutsu wasn't going to cut it Konki decided to try fighting long-range weaponry with long range weaponry. So when Yaiba's chakra blade narrowly missed her and cut into the ground instead Konki was quick to pick out as many kunai and shuriken as possible and then barraged the orange haired teenager with them.

Yaiba retracted the chakra blades. He held out his arms in front of him with the katanas' bladed ends pointing to the right and left respectively, like a windmill. He then began spinning the swords around, again like a windmill. Yaiba moved them from one hand to another at such a speed that you couldn't see anything but a blur.

When Konki's assault reached him it all bounced harmlessly of the spinning swords. No matter how hard she tried, the gennin couldn't help but think how cool it looked.

Once he stopped Yaiba smirked maliciously at Konki and his swords once again glowed of blue chakra. "Well, if that's the limit of your repertoire I'll just finish you of then." He gloated and ran towards her.

Unsure of what to do the young Uzumaki desperately tried to think up a plan. "_Come on stupid brain, work damnit! Outnumbering him doesn't work and his stupid spinning defence cancels any projectile attack._" That's when it hit her. "_Kaiten. I can block those swords with the kaiten. Excellent, now I just have to learn how to do it perfectly in a few seconds!_" She screamed in her head as she remembered how previous attempts still ended up with a backlash that usually sent her flying.

She cursed inwardly as he came closer and closer. Then she came up with an idea. "_It's almost stupid and crazy enough to work. Perfect!_"

Once again she formed the ram seal and shouted. "Kage bunshin no jutsu!" Six clones appeared in front of her and they all rushed to meet Yaiba halfway.

"Moron! What good can this possibly accomplish?!" The platoon of Konki's didn't respond.

Feeling up for a game of chicken Yaiba decided to get as near as possible and cut down the Konoha brat before she had a chance to react. He crossed his arms and prepared himself.

When the two sides were almost upon each other Yaiba performed a slashing movement with both arms. At the same time the Konki's began spinning and simultaneously shouted. "Hakkeshou Kaiten!"

The backlash from seven failed kaitens exploded in Yaiba's face. It sent him flying backwards several meters and made him drop both his swords.

For Konki the less than sane attack destroyed her clones and since she was closer to the attacks epicentre it sent her even flying even further than Yaiba. She was barely aware of where she was even after slamming into something that felt softer than the ground. With that, we're up to speed.

* * *

Regaining her focus Konki stood up and noticed that Chouya was in front of her glancing curiously at the blonde girl.

"Hi Chouya-chan. How's it going?"

Chouya blinked. "You're standing on Kame-san's back." She deadpanned.

Konki looked down confused. She discovered that she really was standing on her male teammate's back while he had his face planted to the ground. "Oh dear. Sorry Kame-kun. Here, let me help you up." She said in quick succession and lifted up the black haired boy.

"Ow." He whined after spitting out a few straws of grass from his mouth. "Yeah, I had the same reaction." Konki said sheepishly while scratching the back of her head.

"Fine Oru, who can have the short brat. My original prey is here anyway. Just wait for me to get over there!" Team seven looked over at Same who eyed Konki with bloodlust in his eyes while Oru cheered.

"Konki-san, might I ask what happened to your opponent?" Chouya asked after redirecting her attention to the bullriding kunoichi while Konki took a juuken stance directed at Same.

"I'm not sure. He flew the opposite way from me. If he's not knocked out somebody should go and keep check on him because… Crap."

"What now?" Chouya asked trying to sound calm.

"I think I dropped the scroll when I got blasted over here."

"So you're saying that both the object and the person that we are supposed to protect are currently unguarded and the closest person to them is an enemy?" Konki nodded.

While the severity of their new situation hit team seven Same had gotten within what he felt was a suitable charging distance. "Lets get them!" The two missing-nin charged and Chouya decided to take action before it was too late.

"We need somebody to protect Mako and the scroll." She said firmly yet absent-mindedly. Then she reached behind and grabbed the silent Kame's robe. "Sorry about this Kame-san." Before he could begin to protest Chouya tossed him in the direction Konki had previously come from.

"Why did you do that?" Konki asked with a shocked expression.

"He's the only these two won't chase after." Chouya answered, referring to their opponents. "Please focus on them now."

Chouya and Konki dodged to the right and left respectively as Oru and Same reached them. The missing-nin followed their targets and the new battles were underway.

* * *

The blast had slammed Yaiba into the tree he had speared before the battle had started. It had knocked him out for a few seconds. When he woke up again he noticed that Mako was the person closest to him while the konoha shinobi and his partners had ended up in some kind of faceoff. This was his chance.

Noting that his swords were no longer in his hands and a short distance away he contemplated whether he should pick them up or not. "_It has been my dream to end him with them. If I move quickly I should be able to make it._" He reasoned and speed of.

Near the two swords lay the scroll that team seven was supposed to deliver to Mako. Yaiba completely ignored it and just picked up his weapons. Then he set of towards Mako, who had fallen to his knees and was just staring at the tattooed boy.

"_Not long now you bastard! Finally I'll have my revenge!_" Yaiba almost began salivating as he got closer to the decoder.

Mako closed his eyes and prepared himself. "_Here he comes, at least my shame is at an end. __Goodbye Kinomi, I wish you all the best._"

Just when Yaiba was preparing his strike three shuriken struck the ground in front of him, making him halt his process and back up cautiously. A second later Kame landed between them, he actually managed to stand up as he touched the ground. He was breathing heavily, his eyes were as large as tea plates and he was sweating like a pig. As he turned to face Yaiba he began shaking due to the killing intent the orange haired teenager was emitting.

"Great, another one of you punks. I'm through being mr. nice guy here. You die first, then the old bastard." Yaiba growled.

"You don't have to protect me kid." Mako said but got no reaction. "I deserve whatever he's giving me." He continued with a soothing voice.

"I-it's ok." Kame responded. "I c-c-can d-do th-this." Mako was far from reassured but there was something in the boy's stuttering voice that made it seem like he wasn't going to back down. So he let it be.

"_I might not be able to kill him. But I can hopefully stall him long enough._" Kame said to himself, hoping that his teammates and sensei would save him.

* * *

Electricity surged from Sasuke's left hand and destroyed the earth spikes that were threatening to impale him. He then spun around just in time to meet a large lightning bolt from above. He countered it with both his hands. They glowed brightly with lightning based chakra. A sharp wind seemingly caught him of guard and cut the jounin in half. A second later it was revealed to be another substitution.

Sasuke appeared behind Metsubou and gave him a sharp kick to the face which sent the missing-nin flying.

Sasuke turned his attention to Inmetsu who was in the process of forming seals. With the sharingan Sasuke saw what attack the triplet was going to use and began to mimic him.

"Katon: Dai Endan!" They both shouted as they spewed large streams of fire at one another. The attacks clashed and Sasuke's flames quickly began overtaking Inmetsu's. It got to the point where the missing-nin had to dodge to the side to not get roasted.

Sasuke appeared before him in a blur and before the missing-nin could react the jounin punched him hard in the stomach. Inmetsu was brought to his knees.

The sharingan master spun around and once again charged his hands with electricity. He was just in time to catch a large orb of concentrated lightning chakra. He pushed more chakra into his hands forced the orb into the sky where it exploded not harming anybody..

A moment later Toukai and Metsubou were upon him, striking with a kunai each to Sasuke's lungs. A puff of smoke later and it was revealed that Sasuke had evaded them with the help of yet another substitution.

Sasuke appeared ten meters in front of the brothers and began a glaring match with Toukai while Metsubou helped Inmetsu pick himself up.

"I'm winning." Sasuke smirked at the triplets, who had attained several bruises, black eyes and a few cracked ribs during the fight.

"Shut up!" The triplets screamed in frustration.

"We're battling evenly and you know it!" Metsubou shouted.

"Exactly, you may be doing better than before. But we will still defeat you." Toukai said, the frustration in his voice evident.

"Just you wait. We still haven't used our ultimate attacks!" Inmetsu proclaimed.

Sasuke had to keep himself from laughing. "I'm reminded of that old saying about dogs and their bark being bigger than their bite." That really set them of.

"You wouldn't be so cocky if you knew that your students were dying as we speak!" Toukai roared.

Sasuke smirked shifted into a look of unease. "What did you just say?" He asked stiffly.

The brothers smirked maliciously. "It's true. Our employer refused to let us take on this job by ourselves." Metsubou said while containing a mocking laugh.

"So they sent another trio to pick up any leftovers we might leave. We would've preferred to kill your student ourselves. But that's life for you." Inmestu finished of with a shrug to emphasize his point.

"So, now what "Traitor"? What are you going to do now?" Toukai asked, hoping to hear a hint of anger in Sasuke's voice.

His wish didn't come true however. Because when Sasuke spoke he was as calm as a cucumber.

"I'm sorry that I have to cut the fun here but it seems like I have somewhere to be." He informed them and began forming seals at an unusually slow pace. The Destruction Brothers laughed.

"HA! So you really think that you can still beat us?! How drool!" Metsubou shouted before addressing Inmetsu. "Come on brother, let's show this jerk our ultimate combination attack."

"Yes, let's do that. If you don't mind Toukai."

Toukai shook his head. "Go right ahead, take him down." He backed up a little as his brothers prepared their assault.

Sasuke didn't seem to mind them and just kept forming seals.

Metsubou and Inmetsu finshed their own seal chains quickly and shouted simultaneously. "Burning Vortex!"

Inmetsu spewed out an incredible amount of fire which mixed with the horizontal tornado that Metsubou formed with his hands. The combination attack raced towards Sasuke who was calmly still forming hand seals.

Just as he was about to get hit Sasuke ended the seal chain with the tiger seal. When he spoke his voice seemed to echo across the field.

"Katon: Shiro Ryuujin!" The fire he spew out was blazing white, almost twice as large as the combination attack and took the form of a serpent like dragon.

As the two attacks met the dragon completely overpowered the fire vortex as if it wasn't even there. The dragon moved at incredible speeds and was upon Metsubou and Inmetsu before they even realised it. The two brothers were incinerated instantly. A second later the dragon faded away, leaving only a trail of charcoaled grass and burnt earth as evidence of its existence.

Toukai was at loss for words. He couldn't really comprehend what had just happened. Then he heard Sasuke addressing him.

"Shiro ryuujin might lack the power and longevity of amaterasu. But in pure speed it is unmatched amongst fire techniques. Your brothers were dead before they knew it." The jounin slowly walked towards the missing-nin who's mind had caught up to the situation.

"You killed my brothers! You fucking little piece of shit! I'll kill you!"

Sasuke stopped, unfazed by Toukai's anger. "Try it." His voice devoid of emotion.

Toukia formed seals at neck-breaking speed and his arms were engulfed in lightning chakra and stretched out his middle and index fingers. "Raiton: One Thousand Paralyzing Needles!" Toukai moved his arms back so fast that they became blurs and fire tiny needle shaped lightning bolts towards the ever calm Sasuke.

Sasuke closed his eyes in concentration. "Chidori no Tate." A solid aura of lightning chakra formed around his body. The aura protected him perfectly against the attack. Not a single one of the needles broke through it.

When he was finished and noticed that Sasuke was unharmed and still moving towards him, Toukai began to shake in fear.

"I hate you, you bastard! How can anyone kill a man's sibling in front of him and still have that face!? That emotionless and superior face! Bastard! Monster! I hate y…" He was cut short as Sasuke speed up at stabbed his still electrified arm through Toukai's chest.

"I wanted to kill all three of you at once." He said as he pushed the now dead missing-nin to the ground. "But you had to back away from them." The lightning aura faded away and Sasuke speed away to help his students. Not at all caring about what might go on in the devastated field he left behind.

* * *

"Will you just stand still so that I can kill you?" Same grunted as Konki danced away from his trident.

"Why should I do that when this is so much more fun?" Konki teased and leaped above the blue haired boy. She landed right behind him and they both spun around and attacked. Same trying to spear Konki on his trident and Konki tried to damage his back with a juuken strike. In the end Konki won out as she at least nudged him by the ribs before having to jump back to avoid his attack.

"AARGH!" Same screamed in pain from the attack. But he still stood and faced down with his younger foe. She was somewhat faster than he was and he was beginning to really feel the affects of her attacks by now. But he could tell that she was tried from her breathing. And all that jumping around was slowly opening up all the cuts that Yaiba had given her. Same smirked, delighted with his own insight. This girl really was the most fun here. He decided to kill her fast but painfully, after torturing her of course.

Close by Chouya was dealing with Oru and Oushimaru. The short girl's chakra-enhanced strength was fairing quite well against the bull's raw power. If only she hadn't been hurt from fighting Same before she might've been able to win, pumping chakra to keep her arms in super-strength mode wasn't exactly easy either.

But neither of the two kunoichis' had given in to the pressure of the situation yet. Kame on the other hand almost seemed to have lost it.

He was desperately pelting everything he had at Yaiba, who had resorted to his spinning sword defence again. The orange-haired teenager was surprised at the speed with which Kame was attacking him.

"_He certainly has a knack for this kind of attack, even if he is somewhat unpolished. But now's not the time to admire some brat's potential. As soon as he finishes with this nonsense, I'll take him down._"

Moments after he finished his train of thought Kame ran out of ammunition and now nothing stood between the two combatants. Yaiba sneered at Kame, until he noticed the state that the black haired boy was in.

He was shaking and sweating. His eyes wouldn't stay in one place and his facial expression showed nothing but fear. Yaiba assumed that the only reason he wasn't running for his life was because he was frozen in terror.

It sickened him and made him feel pity for the boy.

"I said before that I will show no mercy, and I hold myself to that, somewhat." Yaiba declared with disgust in his voice as he pointed on of his swords in Kame's direction.

"If I were to use the chakra extension of these blades you would be cut in half. I will not so there will be a chance, however small it may be that you will survive. That is all the mercy you will get from me." He snarled.

A voice in Kame's head told him to get upset about this form of pity. Then there was this other one that told him that there was something familiar about this.

"Please Yaiba, I'm the one you want. This boy hasn't done anything wrong." Mako pleaded.

It clicked in Kame's head. Yaiba told the old man to shut up and something about a ruined life. But Kame wasn't listening. The shaking and sweating had stopped. Not that the sword wielding teenager in front of him noticed.

Yaiba charged, with his arms crossed, at Kame, who wasn't moving because he was busy cursing himself for not paying attention throughout the battle. He stared directly at Yaiba, who was almost upon him.

Kame might have been able to dodge the attack. But he didn't. Instead he took the time needed for that to stare into the eyes of his enemy. It was as he suspected.

Suddenly Kame felt pain racing through his body as the two swords cut him deeply across the chest. Blood splattered all over his clothes and he began to fall. Darkness was taking over his consciouness as the trapmaster thought he heard a voice call out his name. But it didn't matter. What mattered were the swords, the name, the eyes and the situation.

"_I've met this person before._" His face hit the ground and everything went black.

* * *

It was thanks to her byakugan that she could see it happen. Konki had subconsciously been keeping an eye on Kame throughout the entire battle. She felt that it was her duty to do so. But it wasn't until she saw him get cut down by her former adversary that she turned all of her focus in his direction.

She dodged under Same's trident and ran past him. At first she wasn't sure what had happened to her shy teammate, maybe she subconsciously didn't want it to be true. Nonetheless, she eventually did realise what had happened and made a potentially fatal mistake.

"KAME!" She focused all her attention on one person.

The blonde had begun to run towards the scene when she was attacked from behind. While her byakugan made it possible for her to see Same getting ready to beat her down, but then again she didn't pay attention to that.

So she was struck down and smashed to the ground. Same then made a point of it by stepping on her back.

"You know, while I do love a good fight watching the hope run out of a person just can't be beat. So I'm going to make you watch as not only your teammate dies but also the person you guys were supposed to protect." Same turned his head as he heard a soft thud next to him. Chouya, breathing heavily and with her arms in their normal state was lying on her back as Oru and Oushimaru came closer.

"You are terrible Same-san." Oru said with a fake mock voice. "Do you mind if we stay and watch too?"

"Whatever. Just don't bother me too much." He felt Konki struggling against his weight so he pressed down a little more. "Don't worry princess. It'll be over soon. But it will hurt like hell before that happens." His manical laughter filled the air as Konki cursed herself for her weakness.

* * *

Yaiba stared at Mako, not sparing the boy he had just slashed a second glance. "Take of your hood. I want to see your face before I end you."

Mako did as he said and removed his hood. With the hood Yaiba stared into the eyes of 70 year old, bald man with a thin grey beard that was tucked inside his robes. Gentle green eyes met with furious browns and neither blinked.

Not a word was said. Yaiba simply raised both his swords for a killing slash straight down the middle and Mako just bowed his head.

As he was about to do it a sharp pain suddenly raked into Yaiba's shoulder and he felt stunned. A shuriken crackling with electricity flew passed his head after cutting into his shoulder. He screamed a blood-chilling scream that made Mako raise his head in surprise. Blood flowed out from the wound and he had to drop both his swords. The first because his arm had gone numb and the other so that he could use his hand to cover his injury.

Suddenly Mako disappeared in a blur. Frustration found his way to his lungs and once again he screamed.

* * *

"What's going on?" Same asked when he heard Yaiba scream and saw him drop his swords. Then, suddenly, a blur went past him and Oru. Before he knew it the old man that Yaiba wanted to kill appeared in front of him.

"Huh?" Was all he got out before he noticed the same blur coming up in his face and punching him off of Konki.

"Same-san!" Oru shouted as the blur ran next to Oushimaru who screamed in pain a second later. Oru looked down and saw several kunai imbedded in Oushimaru's hide. With a puff of smoke the bull retreated to its home world.

Just as she touched down on the ground Oru felt herself being kicked in the stomach and she flew into Same.

As they got up they were able to see the new combatant. Uchiha Sasuke stood before them with his sharigan eyes in full effect. The aura of killing intent he was giving of was almost tangible and even the bloodthirsty Same felt hesitation when met with it.

"Leave or die." His voice was brimming with darkness. Same pulled on Oru to follow him.

"We can't leave Yaiba-kun." She protested.

"Yeah, like we have any chance of helping him. Stop being an idiot and come on." He disappeared into the woods and Oru followed after a moment of hesitation. As they did so Sasuke let out a breath he wasn't aware that he been holding.

"Sasuke-sensei. What about Kame-kun?" Konki asked.

"Couldn't carry him and the old man. Don't worry about it." He disappeared in a blur again.

The next second he appeared in front of the Yaiba and unconscious Kame. Yaiba had managed to pick up his swords with his numb arm. They stared intensely at each other before Yaiba blinked.

"This isn't over." He said shortly before disappearing in the same direction as his partners.

Waiting a second to make sure that they were really gone Sasuke put his hands on his legs and spat out some blood that had made it's way to his mouth. He took a moment to let himself calm down before checking Kame's wounds.

"_You better not die on me kid. Naruto will be pissed if you do._" Sasuke tore of a large piece of Kame's robe and began wrapping it tightly around the boy's chest.

As Sasuke attended to Kame's wound Konki and Chouya hurried over with Mako.

"How is he? Will he be ok? Is there anything I can do?" Konki asked in rapid succession, the worry in her voice was too obvious for a shinobi Sasuke thought. He gave her one hard look that silenced her immediately.

"He's relatively fine but he needs medical treatment from a professional. Otherwise he'll bleed to death." Sasuke informed them and looked over at the two girls and noticed their own injuries. "We all need medical attention." He was quiet a moment before adding. "And if any of you start blaming yourself for this I will punch you." All three of them nodded. "Ok then, I've done what I can for Kame here. Now we just need to find a hospital."

"There's a pretty decent one over at the border village. With all the conflicts it raises the Hokage and grass-leader just thought that it was a good idea to build one." Mako informed Sasuke, who nodded just a little.

"Good," As he stood up Konki quickly took his place next to Kame. "Do we have the scroll?" Chouya held it up in the air and Sasuke smiled approvingly. "Good, now let's get some transportation."

The jounin took a few steps away from the others and preformed a summoning jutsu. When the smoke from the summoning cleared a large, red snake had materialised in front of them. Unlike the previous snake they had seen today this one was cheerful.

"Hello Sasuke-sama. Great to see you again, what can I do for you today?" The snake asked with a friendly voice.

"Just take us to that town over there Haabu. But be careful, we have an injured person with us." Haabu nodded and waited for the group to jump up on him.

Chouya and Konki helped up Mako while Sasuke carried Kame in his arms as he jumped onto the snake's back. Once the girls had jumped on Haabu he set of.

Konki hurried to take a place next to Kame to make sure that he wouldn't fall of or anything. Mako kept to himself and wondered how much he was going to have to tell these people. Chouya sat herself next to Sasuke, who was covering his face with his hands while and taking a deep breath.

"Tired?" Chouya deadpanned.

"Yep," He answered, deciding that there would be no point in hiding it. "I've preformed two summoning techniques, used my most powerful fire technique, run back and forth like a crazy person and before all that I took too many hits for my own good." He chuckled a little. "That's what I get for trying to turn have fun during a life and death life and death." Chouya nodded slowly.

She looked back at the unconscious Kame and fidgeting Konki before addressing Sasuke again. "We lost, right? I mean, before you saved us."

"Pretty much." Sasuke answered honestly. "At least you're alive to fight another day."

Chouya nodded. "Indeed," She then turned to Konki's direction. "Hey, Konki. When Kame-san's fixed, lets get strong enough so that we can beat those guys next time!" Konki stared at Chouya like she had grown an extra head for a minute. Then she smirked. "You took the words right out of my mouth!"

Chouya turned back to Sasuke and smirked dreamily. "We'll be fine."

Sasuke couldn't stop the small smile that had crawled onto his face as he looked at the setting sun. "_I'm going to have to thank Naruto for these little weirdoes one day. Right after I kick his ass for the same reason._"

* * *

Later that night, at a certain field, a tall figure with a billowing coat on him approached Toukai's corpse. His features were cloaked by the shadows of the night.

"Look at that. You punks lost." His voice was deep and gravely.

With one arm he picked up the dead missing-nin by the head.

"Guess that means Taizen wins the bet, again." He muttered with a grumpy voice.

"Oh well, at least the boss will appreciate the new addition to his collection."

With that he walked away from the clearing, dragging the missing-nin's carcass with him.

Minutes later the field was quiet once again.

* * *

**Author's note**: There you have it, the first major battles of this story. It's was fun to write, especially Chouya's parts. And I love little teaser epilogues like the one above.

Don't worry about the absence of team six. We'll get to see more of their antics in the next chapter. Now be a darling and please review. Until next time.


	5. The jerk and the wuss

**Disclaimer**: Blah don't own Naruto blah!

I blame failure to find summer jobs and other stressing factors for the slight lateness of this chapter. But still here it is. So please read and review, hope you like it.

**5. The jerk and the wuss**

"This is embarrassing." Mikomi hissed quietly to Koudanshi.

"Be patient Mikomi-chan, and listen closely because I think that it's important." The civilian born prodigy whispered back.

Mikomi was about to answer when she noticed that Kihano, whom she had managed to ignore for most of the morning, was giving his teammates a glare of superiority while whistling a haunting tune.

She decided to ignore it and refocus her attention to Lee.

"…and when you have transferred the appropriate amount of chakra to your feet, walking up a tree of your choosing will be a piece of cake." He concluded and closed the book he had been reading out loud from. "Any questions?"

Mikomi respected Lee's position as a high-ranking jounin and sensei of her team. She had even come to accept that he could not use ninjutsu or genjutsu at all and kind of admired his success as a shinobi in face of those odds. But it was really hard to take a man seriously when he was using a book entitled **Chakra control for beginners** to teach them a basic exercise.

"_At least I'm not being rude about it._" The purple haired girl looked over atKihano, who was barely able to contain what Mikomi assume was an inordinate amount of laughter.

"Right then, if there are no questions then pick a tree and let your youthful fires guide you to success! Begin by selecting the tree which you will climb vertically." Koudanshi obliged immediately and enthusiastically while Mikomi slowly stalked over to an adjacent tree. Kihano stumbled, apparently walking and containing laughter was difficult to do simultaneously, over to a tree further away from his teammates.

Lee waited for them to gather chakra in their feet. "Ready?" His students nodded. "On 3 then. 1, 2, 3. Go!"

The kunoichi ran towards her chosen tree, in the corner of her eyes she watched Koudanshi do the same. As she reached the tree and planted her foot on she did indeed feel that she was sticking to the tree's surface, just like the book said she would. What she didn't expect however was that her foot would also be cracking the surface of the tree and make a deep imprint on it. The surprise element of this development caused her to lose her balance and fall to the ground with her foot still pressed into the tree.

"_Well, this is beyond embarrassing._" She thought bitterly as she heard Lee hurry over to her prone form.

"Mikomi-san, are you ok?" He asked with a worried tone that she appreciates.

"I'm fine Lee-sensei. Just a bit embarrassed. How did it go for Koudanshi?" The green-clad jounin smiled warmly, happy that she wasn't bothered by the temporary set-back.

"He did well. Exceptionally well one might say." Her interest peaked Mikomi looked over to Koudanshi's tree just in time to see him land on the ground with his feet.

While pulling her foot out of the tree trunk Mikomi moved her eyes over Koudanshi's tree and saw the small cut he had made with his kunai halfway up the tree. That she was impressed, and a little jealous, was an understatement. But being the supportive kind of person, or at least hoping she was, Mikomi decided to congratulate her newest friend as she got back up on her feet.

"Not bad Koudanshi," She smiled encouragingly at the boy, who grinned happily. "Better than me at least." She muttered quietly.

"Indeed," Lee added. "It is an achievement worthy of your status as prodigy." Koudanshi's cheeks turned a light shade of pink at the praise. Then he noticed that Mikomi was observing her damaged tree.

"Do not be discouraged Mikomi-chan. With some practice you will be able to ascend nature's wooden pillars right along side me and Kihano-kun."

"Speaking of the little jerk," Lee frowned at the comment but his reaction went unnoticed by the two gennin. "How far did he get before falling flat on his ass?" While he wasn't fond of how Mikomi spoke of Kihano Lee had to admit that he too was interested to see how this little exercise had affected the uncooperative gennin. He was hoping that if they all failed a sort of humbling affect would bring them closer to each other.

However, when the sensei and students directed their attention to Kihano's previous location he was nowhere to be found. Humbled or otherwise. That's when they heard the same haunting whistle as before, only this time it came from above their heads.

They looked up and there he was, looking as arrogant as one can get. Kihano was nonchalantly strolling up a tree, remaining perfectly vertical. All while whistling that haunting tune and glancing mockingly at the rest of team six.

While Lee and Koudanshi were stunned into speechlessness Mikomi reacted more or less in the exact opposite manner.

"How the hell can you do that!?" She shouted, infuriated that he had bested her in anything.

Kihano stopped whistling to reply, but still walked towards the top of the tree. "I learned this when I was five years old, tomboy." He snickered. "Don't blame me that you're behind in life." If looks could kill Kihano would've been incinerated from the glare Mikomi was sending him.

Seeing that his original plan had failed Lee tried a different approach. "Kihano-kun, since you already can utilise the technique perfectly you could enlighten your teammates in how to do it properly." Even if the brown haired gennin obliged only to show of it would be preferable to not having them interact at all.

Naturally that idea didn't work either. "Nah, I'm just going to take a rest up here. Wake me when we're going on our next mission." With that he disappeared amongst the branches and leaves, still whistling.

Mikomi angrily grumbled something that Lee was certain he didn't want to hear. Koudanshi on the other hand seemed quite excited.

"Incredible," The prodigy said in awe. "To be able to perform such a task so quickly and at such a young age. I shall not be worse. Before this day is over I too will have mastered the technique." He declared with excitement and returned to the exercise.

Lee smiled and then sighed. While he did enjoy teaching team six there were things that were more difficult than he imagined it to be. More specifically they were much more dysfunctional than what he imagined a standard gennin team would be.

Directing his eyes at the tree Kihano had climbed into. While he didn't want to put the blame on anyone he was fairly certain that Kihano was a big part of the problem. He had proven to be a proverbial stonewall that resisted every attempt Lee made to make him take partake in group-training. Even direct orders were met with indifferent silence and rolling eyes. And from what Lee had gathered it was Kihano's antagonism that was the cause for the team failing most of their missions.

After five weeks of failing to create a bond between his gennins Lee had had enough. It was time he turned to a higher power. Even if that power scared him.

* * *

If you've seen one cave you've basically seen them all. They're dark, damp, cold, hard and overall just depressing in their appearance. The one being used as a hideout by a certain trio of missing-nin and their leader was no exception.

Same, Oru and Yaiba were all kneeling before a large man, practically twice the size of any normal human male,dressed dark red body suit along with black gloves and boots. His chestnut colored hair reached down below his shoulders and gave him a slightly feral look. He had a white bandana tied around his eyes. But the thing that drew the most attention was the oversized, black dao strapped to his back.

"And that's what happened Hanmyou." Yaiba concluded coldly. "If it had not been for the triplets failing to kill Uchiha Sasuke we would've won the battle. Of course you could've joined us as well." He mumbled the last part but it didn't go unheard.

"I have my reasons for not joining the attack. And your excuse for not finishing your mission is unacceptable. You should've been able to kill three mere gennin and an old geezer instantaneously. Your shoddy handling of the situation as it was is unacceptable. Especially considering who gave us this mission." His tried to sound gravely and cool. But Yaiba noted a hint of desperation as he mentioned who had given them the mission.

"Wait, you mean that this was an order from him?" Same said excitedly. "Why didn't you just tell us that? I would've gladly gutted all three of the little brats if you had just told us that." The teenager's mouth formed a sadistic grin as saliva began to build up in his mouth.

Oru had quite the opposite reaction. "I'd rather not it be him. He always gives me the creeps. And I don't like the way he looks at Yaiba-kun." She leaned into Yaiba in a comforting motion but was shoved away by the tattoed teen.

"Yaiba-kun!" She complained. "Why won't you ever let me get near you?! I just want to protect you!"

"I don't need protection." Yaiba sneered at her.

Oru was undeterred and latched onto his arm. "But everybody needs someone Yaiba-kun." She said with a gentle voice. "Let me be that someone." She was unceremoniously shoved away again.

"You make me want to puke Oru." Same growled. "Keep it up and I will have to gut you." The female missing-nin noted the seriousness in her accomplices' voice and scotched closer to Yaiba.

"Enough!" Hanmyou roared getting the three younger nins to straighten their backs. "We have a serious problem here. We need to get to the border village as soon as possible. Once there I will kill the gennin and you three take care of Uchiha Sasuke." The large man's subordinates blinked in confusion at this new order.

"Could you repeat that last part again?" Oru asked hestitantly.

"You heard me, you three will kill Uchiha Sasuke." Oru's mouth hung open and Same got a feral grin on his face. Only Yaiba had enough presence to speak up.

"Are you insane? That man was able to defeat all three of us after going a round with the "Destruction Brothers". How the hell are we supposed to beat him when he's at 100?" Hanmyou was about to retort when he suddenly froze.

The sound of footsteps was moving forward them. As one the three missing-nin stood up and turned around to face whoever intruded on their HQ. It turned out to be an unnecessary action. The interloper was one they knew very well.

"Seiei-sama." Hanmyou chocked out at the sight of the newest arrival of their little meet.

The man called Seiei was wearing long and loose-fitting grey coat that covered his black, sleeveless top and black pants. Beyond that there were several features that distinguished him from most people. First of all, he was a very tall man. So tall that he had to bend down somewhat uncomfortably to not scrape his head on the cave-ceiling. Next there were the spikes. Metal spikes of varying size stuck out multiple places on his body. There were rows of them on his bald head. They formed circles around his wrists and neck. There were also a few of them sticking out of the back of his hands. Last of all, he was wearing a mask that covered his entire face. It was round and grey with no distinguishing features except for a pair of glowing red eyes.

"I hate to interrupt meetings by just walking in on you all like this but there're a few things I would like to talk about. If you don't mind?" The casualness of his deep voice unnerved the missing-nin. Yaiba tensed up and didn't seem to notice Oru hiding behind him. Hanmyou was failing miserably at preventing himself from visibly shaking. Only Same seemed to appreciate their guest.

"Seiei-dono. How may I be of service to you?" He said with his most ingratiating voice, Seiei was unimpressed.

"There's a time for asskissing later kid. Like I said, I want to talk, to you're quivering leader over there. So you three squirts are going to leave us alone." Nobody moved, not sure of what to do. "I meant NOW!" Same quickly walked past Seiei, a sadistic smirk formed itself on his countenance. Yaiba walked away much more cautiously, with Oru following his every step, and never took his eyes off of Seiei.

The two men stared at each other for moment. Seiei was the first to break the silence. "I love those kids. They're really a neat little bunch of killers. Then again I guess that you already know that. Otherwise you wouldn't have picked them up." He was acting as if he and Hanmyou were old friends. This scared the missing-nin more than the previous casualness.

"Yes, Seiei-sama."

The masked man waved his hand dismissively. "No need to be so formal with me Hanmyou. I'm just here to talk about the mission." A hint of agitation was heard in the last word. "You know the one that you sat out of." It grew into frustration, "Now, I remember asking you to deal with it personally." And exploded into anger. "So why didn't you!"

To his credit Hanmyou was able to not falter and answered with a strong voice. "Seiei-sama. The target you asked me to kill was Uchiha Sasuke. You know as well as I do that I can't do that. Not after what he did for me."

Seiei sighed and slowly walked up to Hanmyou. "Right, you're little infatuation with the Uchiha was the very reason I picked you for this mission." The spiked man stood a mere inch from the missing-nin now. Because if you had listened closely you would've know." Seiei easily tossed Hanmyou into the cave fall and let him slump to the floor. "We never wanted you to kill him!"

"What?" Hanmyou asked with a shocked voice.

"I guess that the words 'Uchiha Sasuke' and 'kill' in the same sentence made you interpret me incorrectly." He spoke harshly, like a parent scolding a child. "My boss wants him alive and I told him that you would be perfect for that task since you're so into the guy. Then there's the fact that your grumpy little sidekick's object of hate was a part of it all I just knew that I had to use you guys." Seiei's voice had shifted to that of a businessman. "You want to know something else. This is supposed to be your final test." This got the large man's attention.

"You mean it?" The way he asked it made it seem as if he had been told the same thing before.

"Yes, for real this time. For you and the triplets. To see if you could follow orders concerning Uchiha Sasuke and if they could be calm and not just completely waste everything in sight." A sharp killing intent suddenly flowed from the masked man. "Obviously you all failed. They couldn't stick to their original target and tried to hog all the targets. Luckily they were killed for me. And you did nothing."

He leaned closer to Hanmyou's slumped form. "Although, in your case you just misunderstood orders. So I will give you another chance. If you fail again I will kill you, and only you."

Hanmyou involuntarily gulped and talked before he could stop himself. "But my…"

"Those three?" Seiei chuckled. "Please, they don't know a quarter of what you know. I can kill you and just let them go without worry that they'll be a threat. They're just good little soldiers. And I hope, for your sake, that you are too."

Seiei turned away from Hanmyou and walked to the cave's exit. "Remember, we just want you to capture him. No need to kill you little crush." Seiei mocked and seemingly disappeared.

By nightfall Hanmyou would get up and order his team to head for the border village. Before that he would slowly let his anger of being so powerless against Seiei transform into drive. Drive to see this mission through to the end. No matter what.

* * *

_The sun was shining beautifully on the village. Birds were singing and children were laughing as they played happily. All over the place you could see lovers enjoying a meal together or taking walks through the streets without a care in the world._

_In the middle of the main street there was a family of three walking straight forward with an obvious destination in mind. They stood out perfectly, or at least the conversation the parents were having did._

"_I'm not trying to insult you honey. I'm just saying that your family's fighting style doesn't fit him. Our son would be much better off learning my way with the strategically placed entrapment devices." The husband said brightly. His afro was dark blonde, his light blue eyes shined through the small glasses while his loose fitting and light purple shirt flowed with the wind._

_The wife rolled her emerald green eyes and shook her head, tossing her dark hair around. "Traps honey, traps." She said with a mature voice. "We've talked about this. Giving them a longer name doesn't make them any cooler." She smirked at her husband's defeated grumbling. "And I don't see why I can't teach our son my techniques. I just have to toughen him up a little."_

"_You mean make him so paranoid that he starts carrying multiple weapons with him everywhere he goes?" The husband said teasingly and gestured to the numerous small satchels strapped to her arms and legs, along with her leaf-headband, and the red bo-staff strapped to her back._

"_Hey," The wife spluttered. "Don't blame me for being prepared. We're ninjas, we can get attacked at anytime and you know it." Her voice indicated that she was very frustrated, but the husband didn't seem to care._

"_Yeah, because the chances of this innocent little visit to your childhood friend turning into a fight for our lives are REALLY high." He said with a dramatic voice and stuck out his tongue as his wife's face turned red. "We're in freaking foreign village!" She screamed._

"_You used to live here! Don't you have any trust in your old home?!" The husband countered._

_The two lovers looked like they were about to take out the trash on each other when an innocent laughter was heard from between them._

_They looked down on the five year old boy that was walking between them, holding their hands. He had his father's bright, blue eyes and his mother's black hair, which was a sharp contrast to his light yellow outfit._

"_Mom and dad are funny when they're fighting like idiots." He said contentedly and smiled at his parents who laughed loudly as their harmless anger melted away._

_Before long the family had reached their destination, a large estate in the middle of an even larger garden. Rows of metal statues resembling various shinobi warriors framed the pathway to the front door. Just like the statues the door was made of metal and had the kanji for weapon painted on it in red color._

"_And you're sure that your friend is ok?" The man asked his wife after looking suspiciously over the grounds._

"_Yes, now be polite." She reprimanded before pulling a thick rope that was by the door. A loud gong was heard followed by running feet. The door opened up to reveal a woman with orange hair clipped in a ponytail wearing a dark green top and blue pants. Her grass-headband was used as a belt. Her face was overjoyed._

"_Tora!" The woman screamed and held out her arms._

"_Karami!" The mother yelled equally ecstatic and threw herself into a forceful hug with the other woman._

_Tora's husband patiently waited for the hug to end while holding back his son, who tried to join in on the hug, and for the two women to exchange the common pleasantries two long-distance friends usually do when seeing one another again._

_Once their greeting ritual was over Karami turned to Tora's husband and son. __"And I guess that these two are the new men in your life." Karami smiled and held out her hand to the man._

"_Right you are pretty lady." The husband said as he shook Karami's hand. "The name's Odayaka Kuma, but considering the amount of letters you two have sent to each other I'm thinking that you already knew that."_

"_Yep, and I have to say that your afro is even more horrible than I could've imagined." Tora screeched with laughter while Kuma frowned. "I don't like you." He pouted but was ignored as Karami bent down to see the couple's son in the eyes._

"_And this little critter must be your 'pride and joy' huh?" She playfully ruffled the boy's hair, earning a laugh and a charming smile from him._

"_You have no idea how correct you are." Tora boasted. "Come on honey, introduce yourself to mommy's friend." The boy's face shined with delight as he recited a carefully constructed introduction._

"_Hello, my name is Odayaka Kame and I am five and a half years old." He smiled, proud that he had come up with it all by himself and delivered it correctly._

_Kamari just stared at Kame with big eyes for a moment. Then she threw her arms around him in a figuratively bone-crushing hug._

"_Can I keep him please? Mine's got this whole too-cool-for-hugs thing going." She asked Tora while swinging Kame around in motherly fashion._

"_No, now put him down__ before you make him puke." Karami stopped and noticed Kame's dizzy-looking face and then carefully put him down on the ground where he stumbled around._

"_Aha! See! He can barely survive a spinning hug, how do you suggest that he survives you toughening him up huh?!" Kuma asked triumphantly, making Tora roll her eyes._

"_Hah, if you think that's bad wait until you hear what the mighty Kyoumou Tora would go through any time I…" Tora tackled Karami into the ground and covered her mouth._

"_We are not talking about __**that**__ in front of my husband and son. Understood?" She growled into Karami's ear._

_The pinned woman nodded as she noticed Kuma, who was un-dizzying Kame, mouthed that they would meet up later._

_As things were calming down a seven year old boy with orange hair and brown eyes approached them from inside the house. He was wearing a white outfit and had an indifferent expression on his face._

_He sized up the people that were talking to his mother. "Are these the guests, mom?" He asked with a lazy voice._

"_Yes honey," The boy cringed at the pet name. "You know Tora-chan already," Tora winked at him and the boy smirked friendly at her. "This is her husband, Kuma." She pointed at the leaf-nin who nodded at the boy who returned the gesture. "And this is…"_

"_Hello, my name is Odayaka Kame and I am five and a half years old!" The black haired boy shouted with a panicked voice earning him odd looks from Karami and her son._

"_He practiced that introduction all the way here and he doesn't want anybody else to take that from him. In short, just humor him." Tora explained with a smile. Karami nodded understandingly._

"_Uhhuh." The orange haired boy muttered and walked over to the younger child. "Well, my name is Kentou Yaiba and I am seven years old. Nice to meet you squirt." Yaiba held out a hand to the younger boy. But it was met with a grumpy sneer._

"_I'm not a squirt." Kame pouted, very much like his father._

"_Right, I meant nice to meet you Kame." This time Kame happily responded to the handshake like only an enthusiastic five year old can when they make a new friend._

"_So, what__ do you like Kame?" Yaiba asked without letting go of the younger boy's hand._

_Kame happily obliged his new friend and began with talking about something he had been thinking about for a few days. "Well, at my village there's this girl with really pretty b…" He stopped when he felt a sharp pain in his stomach._

_Kame looked down and saw a sword sticking into him and his blood sipping from the wound. When he looked up again he and Yaiba were surrounded by darkness. The orange haired boy in front of him had turned into an orange haired teenager with tattoos all over his body, his hair up in a mohawk and hate in his eyes._

_For a moment Kame stared into Yaiba's eyes as if trying to understand why he was doing this. When that moment was over Yaiba forcefully shoved the sword deeper inside Kame's gut._

* * *

The young trapmaster woke up with a startled jerk and quickly sat in the bed he was currently situated in. He really wished that he hadn't done though as pain raced through him and he fell back down to the bed.

He was sweating and breathing heavily not certain where he was or what was going on. The only thing he knew was that he was tired as all hell. Luckily for him there was someone close by to explain it all.

"It's about time you woke up." Sasuke deadpanned from a corner to the right of the bed.

Kame looked over at the jounin who was leaning against the wall. His arms crossed and his face emotionless: "How are you feeling?"

"Warm." Kame said with a tired voice as he slowly sat up. "How l-long w-was I out?"

"The entire night. We're at a hospital in the border village. You've been stitched up and bandaged around your chest. You'll live but the doctor doesn't want you to move too much for a while." Kame appreciated that Sasuke had anticipated and answered most of his questions in one go.

"Which brings us to the bad news." Sasuke continued with the same emotionless tone. "We have to move as soon as your teammates and Mako are back." This raised a few new questions in Kame's head. Luckily Sasuke seemed to have anticipated them as well. "The others are out buying food and supplies. We're moving because if we stay here we will be easy to find for the three missing-nin that you fought yesterday, and who knows how many accomplices they have."

Kame hoped that Sasuke didn't notice him flinching at the mention of Yaiba and his comrades. He thought back to his dream, or rather memory turned nightmare, and the black haired boy wondered how important the tattooed missing-nin's identity would be for the mission.

"_My friendship with Yaiba-san shouldn't be that important. Mako-san will certainly explain the specifics of the situation, if he hasn't already. Yeah, I don't need to recount my past to them... I hope._"

Sasuke observed the trapmaster. It was clear that the boy had drifted away in his mind. The jounin pondered whether he should snap his student back to reality or not. Then he got bored and flicked a crumbled piece of paper into the boy's eye.

"Agh!" Kame grunted as he was impolitely pulled out of his thoughts.

"Focus on what I'm saying Kame." The jounin ordered calmly. "First of all I need to know if you're up to travel for one more day. Can you do that?"

After a moment of hesitation Kame nodded his head and Sasuke continued.

"Once we're there I want to go through the details of the attack with you, Konki, Chouya and Mako. If there was anything peculiar about the attack that you remember please report it at that time."

Kame resisted the urge to swallow hard. It would seem as if Mako hadn't told them the truth yet. But he would certainly do that at the briefing. Again, that's what Kame hoped.

"Lastly," Sasuke continued as Kame didn't voice any protests about the information. "Do you have any spare clothes? Your robe got trashed." For the first time today the black haired boy's face got the kind of confused expression Sasuke figured that all twelve year olds should have. It almost made him smile, almost.

"Well? Do you have any spare clothes?" Sasuke repeated himself, shaking Kame out of yet another daze.

"Ehm, y-yes, i-in one o-of my sc-scrolls." At this the jounin let an eyebrow go up ever so slightly. Kame noticed and looked down on his hands, finding twiddling his thumbs a good distraction.

"Th-they c-couldn't fit i-in the b-bags. The w-wea-weapons to-took up a-all the space." He stuttered more awkwardly making Sasuke sigh silently.

"Whatever, just get washed up and dressed. The others should be back soon." Kame nodded obediently and slowly got out of bed, found his belongings in the corner opposite of where Sasuke was standing and picked out a medium-sized scroll. As he was about to enter the bathroom Sasuke made himself heard one more time.

"Is there something on your mind?" The way he asked was similar to that of an law enforcer interrogating a criminal. But surprisingly enough it seemed to have little affect on Kame, beyond making him more of a nervous wreck than he already was.

"N-no, Sa-sasuke-s-sensei." With that he hurried into the bathroom, leaving Sasuke alone with his thoughts.

"_He's acting more despondent than usual, and he seemed kind of distant and he was definitely lying to me right now._" For a minute Sasuke considered forcing the boy to reveal whatever secret was occupying his mind. Then he decided against it. "_I'll give him the benefit of a doubt and hope that he'll speak when he's ready to._" At first Sasuke thought that that was a fair deal. But it just didn't feel right. So he added a stipulation in his head. He decided that failure to reveal information about their mission would be the final nail in Kame's so far inadequate performance.

"_If he doesn't spill within 24 hours I'll force it out of him and demote him when we get back to Konoha._"

Satisfied with the stipulations he had put up Sasuke leaned into the wall, completely relaxed, and waited for the rest of his team to assemble.

* * *

"An outrage I tell you! An insult to my abdomen and taste buds! How dare they try to trick us into buying such a foul and un-appetising sorry excuse for…"

"Konki-chan, the vendor was just trying to sell us some ramen." Chouya coolly interrupted her friend's triad as the two gennin and Mako, all carrying bags with food and other supplies in their hands, walked into the hospital.

"That was not ramen Chouya-chan!" Konki practically spat out, as if Chouya had insulted one of her close friends, while flailing her arms around, endangering the contents in her bags. "What that so called salesperson was trying to dump upon us can only be called an affront to everything…"

"How long will she drone on about this?" Mako whispered in Chouya's ear while Konki obliviously ranted on.

"Probably another few minutes or so," Chouya answered without any real interest. "Or until she sees something that she deems as more important." She added as an afterthought.

The two quietly followed the raving blonde through the hospital corridors until they reached the room in which their teammate and instructor were residing.

"…and that is why what that atrocious retailer wanted to sell to us can not be called anything but sloppy dough dunked in over-aged soup'. Do you understand Chouya-chan?" Konki turned her head, expecting to see the short girl nod in confirmation.

Instead Chouya was unflappably spinning her head around while humming an upbeat tune.

Konki frowned. "You're the second most annoying person I've ever met Chouya-chan." The blonde muttered as she opened the door to their room, unaware of her teammate's thoughts.

"_Damnit, only second place. I curse you Mitarashi Kihano and your expertise in the fine art of being a pain in the butt._" She mentally declared without her expression ever changing as she followed Konki into their temporary quarters.

When they entered the room Sasuke was still being aloof in his little corner and Kame, now all washed up and dressed in a robe identical to the one that had been shredded, was sitting on the edge of the hospital bed. Konki's reaction was instantaneous.

"YOU'RE OK!" She screamed before unceremoniously dropping her bags and tackling the still recuperating boy with a bear hug. Kame barely had time to stand up before the forceful embrace knocked him onto the bed with Konki on top of him.

"How are you feeling?" The blonde asked cheerfully either not noticing, or ignoring, the trapmaster's flushed face and pained expression.

"O-ok…" Kame answered with a strained voice.

"Are you sure?" She pulled one of her arms away from the hug and place her hand on Kame's forehead. "You're feeling kind of warm."

Over in his corner it took all of Sasuke's will-power to not sweatdrop. "_Doesn't she realise how compromising that position looks?_" He was about to move to pull Konki away from the obviously troubled boy when Chouya stepped in and did it for him.

"I hope you realise how weird that looked." The brown haired girl stated with an amused voice making the daughter of the Hokage blink in confusion before realisation dawned upon her.

"Oh… Heh, sorry Kame-kun," She said to shy boy, who was once again in upright position. "I guess I got a little excited. Did I embarrass you?" She asked with a jovial disposition.

Kame was still red in his face had found the ceiling to be extremely intriguing. "A l-l-li-little…" He answered as his head twitched noticeably.

A, for some, uncomfortable silence settled in the room and lasted for several minutes until Sasuke coughed loudly to get everyone's attention.

"Did you get everything?"

"Yep," Konki quickly answered and began counting down items from a memorised list. "Food for two weeks, bandages for Kame-kun's injuries, replacement weapons for the stuff we used up last night and a map over the forest one days walk away from here. And we used henge while buying all of it, just like you told us to." She added with a smile. Sasuke nodded approvingly.

"Right, as you all know time is of the essence for us so pack up your things. We're heading out right now." The jounin stood up only to find his orders questioned.

"Head out where Sasuke-sensei?" Chouya asked while stretching her arms up in the air. "This village is the closest thing to civilisation for miles and we will kind of need civilisation should Kame's wounds open up again. Because quite frankly none of us have the medical experience to deal with that if it happens. So if you're planning to make us live in the woods for the coming three weeks I sincerely hope that you have a well-developed plan of how we're going to do that."

The length of what the short gennin had said stunned the entire room. The casual and kind of bored way she said it annoyed the sharingan master. Not that he let it show.

"We are not going to live in the forest and there actually is a piece of civilisation a little over two miles away from here." It pleased him more than it really should to see Chouya's face contort in puzzlement. "Mako, please tell them what you told me."

The gennin turned to the quiet decoder, who had more or less been hiding in the corner next to the door, for an explanation.

Seeing that Sasuke wasn't going to speak in his place Mako sighed and addressed the young shinobi in front of him with a distinctively tired voice.

"This is supposed to be my last mission before I retire. When that happens I'm going to move in with my daughter, Kinomi, and her husband, Hogosha. Unlike me they have never dabbled in the world of shinobi and to be honest they never wanted to."

"Why not?" Konki abruptly interrupted, earning a short glare from Mako.

"They're pacifists," He answered curtly before continuing his story. "They managed to find a secluded area in the woods your sensei mentioned where they built a house for themselves to raise a family. They get money for food and clothes by selling vegetables and fruits that they grow in their garden. We can hide out at their place while I translate the scroll, but like I told your sensei. They won't like it." Team seven completely ignored Mako's foreboding voice and began packing their belongings as well as the equipment and food they'd bought.

"Ok team, I want all of you to ready for travel within five minutes. Meet us behind the hospital." Sasuke ordered and pulled Mako with him as he exited the hall.

"Are you sure about this Sasuke-san?" Mako asked as they walked through the hospital corridors, the concern in his voice was obvious.

"Am I sure about what?" Sasuke deadpanned.

Mako glared at Sasuke's apparent callousness. "Are you sure that the children should be part of this? From what I understand they've just recently reached the gennin level. Making them fight against experienced killers isn't right."

"They're almost as old as those killers." Sasuke answered without care as the duo stepped out of the hospital.

"What does that have to do with anything!?" Mako shouted, frustrated that the jounin in front of him didn't seem to realise the seriousness of the situation. "They all almost died before we even reached this village and one of them would have died if we had been much further from the village. Why don't you just send them home? They're obviously out of their league here."

Sasuke stared at the decoder with an impassive gaze. Then he began to talk calmly, as if he was explaining something to a child. "Those children, as you call them, were ready to die in order to protect you. As you said, they nearly did to. Obviously they're ready to see this through to the end. I think that they deserve that much, don't you?" Mako's anger slowly waned into awkwardness at the steel gaze of Uchiha Sasuke.

"You know as well as I do that once you're an official ninja you are a target more or less. Your age and ranking doesn't matter to the people who'll want to kill you. So they shouldn't matter to you either. Do your best, hope to survive and improve yourself. That's basically our life when we're on a mission. Don't worry though, it's my responsibility to take care of them and make sure that we finish this mission." Mako nodded and Sasuke offered him a smirk.

"As for my students being out of their league. Don't worry about it. I've got a few training routines in mind for all of them." Mako nodded and saw the three gennin coming towards them from inside the hospital.

"We better send a messenger bird to my daughter. You know to inform her that we're coming." Sasuke shook his head.

"Nah, messenger birds can be picked of by the enemy. It's better if we don't leave any clues to where we're going." The jounin answered indifferently and Mako sighed.

"_Yeah, Kinomi is really going to love this._" The decoder thought depressingly and mentally prepared himself for the journey as well as getting chewed out by his own flesh and blood.

* * *

"It went north!" Kihano shouted, his eyes glowing with furious frustration as he pushed his forehead against Mikomi's.

"No, the damn thing went south!" The purple haired girl retorted just as furiously while glaring daggers into her teammate's eyes.

"I believe that it would be best for the mission if we all calmed down and re-focused." Koudanshi tried but was, as always, as always met with more shouting.

"Just shut up pretty-boy!" Kihano screamed at his well-meaning teammate before turning back to Mikomi. He was surprised that he was met with a fist rushing towards his face, knocking to the ground.

Mikomi seemed to be even more pissed of than before. "Don't tell him to shut up. You're the one who can't speak without screaming something idiotic."

Kihano put a hand over his latest black eye. "Oh great, I'm getting a lecture from the tomboy with anger management issues." Since she was still lacking the Uchiha coolness in situations like this Koudanshi had to put himself in front of Mikomi to stop her from assaulting the rude gennin.

"Comrades, please! If we could just focus on the mission at hand I am certain that we could complete it with ease." The blue haired genius pleaded before thinking to himself. "_And hopefully save what must be a, by now, horrid reputation._"

His plan partially worked as it brought the attention back to their mission for the day. Just not in a very productive manner.

"Well I say that the blasted thing flew north." Kihano's voice was a few decibels lower but sounded as malicious and arrogant as ever. It was beginning to unnerve Koudanshi greatly.

Mikomi's hateful tone wasn't making things any better. "You were falling down when it flew away so you didn't see it clearly. It flew south!"

"I was only falling because somebody here, who apparently doesn't know the difference between north and south, is still such a loser that they can't walk up a tree without kicking holes through it and used said ineptitude to shake me of said tree!" Again Koudanshi found himself acting as a protective barrier between his teammates.

A more practical solution was required, even if it would fail to encourage cooperation between his teammates. "How about I and Mikomi-chan go south while you investigate the north direction Kihano-kun?!" Koudanshi's suggestion worked out for the best. Meaning that Mikomi stopped trying to kill Kihano and the team split up.

"Honestly, I don't know how you can stand him." Sadly Mikomi seemed insistent about muttering on about their disrespectful teammate. "I mean, he ridicules and mocks you more than me most of the time." While he hoped that the purple-haired gennin's infuriated mood affected her choice of words, Koudanshi couldn't help but see some truth in them.

Certainly he was often the butt of Kihano's jokes and every time he reached out to the boy in friendship he would be laughed and pointed at, literally. He had hoped that it was just Kihano's way. That he simply played a tough guy to avoid showing his deeply emotional inner self which would emerge as they grew closer as a team.

Koudanshi was still waiting for that to happen.

Deciding that musing over what to do about his vulgar teammate would interfere with the mission, the civilian born genius focused on the situation at hand. First of was to get Mikomi to do the same.

"Mikomi-chan, what kind of bird was it that Korekuta-san said was missing?" It was an honest enough question and it seemed to work as Mikomi stopped ranting and pondered it for a minute.

"You know, I don't actually remember. Just something about it being rare, vicious and that we shouldn't hurt it." Mikomi paused and looked at Koudanshi with a disgruntled face. "Do you think that the Hokage has it in for us?" The blue boy smirked at what he thought was a joke.

"Nah, I think that his willingness to give us such a challenging mission shows how much he believes in our abilities." He said with a cheerful voice. Mikomi however was not as easily convinced.

"_We were probably the only team left or something like that._" She thought bitterly.

"AAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" Mikomi and Koudanshi turned around as the screamed reached their ears. The sight that was closing in on them horrified Koudanshi while Mikomi smirked.

"Heh, I suddenly remembered what kind of bird we're looking for." The kunoichi said with malicious satisfaction as she took a quick a glance at the bird. The black feathers on its back contrasted the white ones on is undercarriage and the grey head that was snapping after its fleeing prey. With a wingspan of two meters, a length of more than one meter and talons longer than a grizzly bear's claws it look exceptionally formidable.

"It's a harpy eagle." Mikomi stated as Kihano came closer to them.

"Do something jerkwads!" The running boy screamed as he began darting between the trees in an attempt to shake of the raptor. It failed miserably as the bird was surprisingly quick and agile.

Mikomi yawned. "Say please." Kihano gave her the finger as he passed by her.

Koudanshi found it all very inspiring. Certainly this was what would join them together. He just needed to take the initiative and lead the capture of the eagle, preferably before it crushed Kihano's head.

"Mikomi, quickly. While Kihano is distracting our avian target we have a chance at capturing it." He said with a louder and more dramatic voice than the one he usually talked with, making Mikomi raise an eyebrow.

"What?" She asked with a confused expression.

There was no time for explanations. The eagle was closing in on Kihano, who looked more and more pathetic with each passing moment.

"Just push Kihano to safety as I cover the bird's head with this bag." He eagerly picked up a bag that was slightly bigger than the harpy eagle's head with a hole for its beak.

Mikomi blinked. "Where did you get that?"

"Lee-sensei gave it to me while you and Kihano-kun were arguing." The prodigy answered with a hurried voice. "Now, just let me get in position before you save Kihano-kun."

Mikomi's answer was drowned out by Kihano's shouting.

"Excuse me Mikomi-chan, I didn't quite catch that."

"I said no. By which I mean, no I will not push the obnoxious little jerk out of the way for the eagle's talons. You do it." It was the seriousness in her voice that startled Koudanshi the most.

"But… but… but who will cover the eagle's…"

"I'll do that." She interrupted shortly. "See it as a role-reversal. Now move." She took the bag from the shocked Koudanshi and pressed her foot to a nearby tree, growling as she left a very noticeable dent in it.

As she forcefully made her way up the tree Koudanshi ran after Kihano, a worried expression adoring his face. He did not doubt that Mikomi would be able to catch the bird. But he couldn't shake the feeling that his plan of uniting the team was going to go to hell now. However, he wasn't going to let ominous feelings get in the way of the mission. So he got in position and waited for Mikomi's signal.

The girl in question was lucky that she didn't need chakra control to jump between tree branches, otherwise she'd break them all apart as she stepped on them.

So there she was. Hoping from one branch to another, getting ready to leap onto a vicious harpy eagle in an attempt to subdue it without hurting it, while the bird on the other hand could rip her face of without repercussion. Her train of thought once again led her to the conclusion that ninjas are insane.

When she felt that she was close enough and mentally prepared the purple haired kunoichi alerted her teammates with a shout. "Here I go!"

At first it would seem as if this mission was going to be completely successful without any complications or collateral damage. But then reality kicked in and everything went to hell.

First of all Mikomi's and Koudanshi's timing didn't match up quite as well as they had hoped. Instead of smoothly having getting Kihano out of the way so that Mikomi could pull the bag over the eagle's head, thus subduing its violent nature, and then land safely on the ground they all crashed into each other.

Mikomi miscalculated the length and speed of her jump and landed on top of the eagle making it slam into Kihano's back. In that same instant Koudanshi had jumped out to valiantly shove Kihano away from their female comrade's descent.

The three gennin and the harpy eagle tumbled into a tree with a loud crash.

"Ou gis auh mowons." Kihano muttered from his place at the bottom of the pile with his face jammed to the ground because Mikomi was sitting on the back of his head. "Says the person who can't fight of a stupid bird."

"Mikomi-chan, please don't antagonise our avian target." Koudanshi said from below. The purple haired kunoichi looked down and found that the blue haired prodigy's head resting precariously close to the center of her legs, she failed to notice the terror in his face.

"I respect you Koudanshi, but know that if you don't move away from me within three seconds I'm going to…" She was interrupted by a low but angry squawk. As Mikomi looked up she saw the harpy eagle standing on Koudanshi's raised knees, and it did not look happy.

Mikomi gulped. "Shit."

"Whuffs hupenin? Un ge ovv ma hea!" Kihano's muffled voice managed to say before the bird attacked.

* * *

One hour later team six walked out of the forest where their sensei was waiting for them. Their disgruntled faces all had various cuts all over them that leaked small droplets of blood. The eagle was tied up with a thin black rope which prevented it from flapping its wings. Mikomi had been chosen to carry it which she did by holding onto its sides and keeping it at arms length.

The bird was obviously not happy with this development which it demonstrated by squawking loudly. Not that any of the ninja present cared about it.

"Welcome back my precious pupils. I see that the mission was successful." Lee said with smile on his face that betrayed his thoughts. "_At least I hope it was. They could use a win without trivial damage ruining it for them._"

Mikomi handed the bird to Lee before saying what he assumed was a rehearsed line. "Mission accomplished Lee-sensei. Now may we please rest while you deliver the mission report to Hokage-sama?" She stared at him with dull eyes and the jounin gathered that his team had had a bad day and agreed. After telling them to wait for him Konoha's self-proclaimed green beast set of to report the mission a success and, hopefully, get fully paid for it.

When he was out of sight team six fell to the ground. Not in exhaustion but in embarrassment.

For a few minutes they simply laid on their backs and stared into the air. Then the silence was broken. "And that was a perfect example of how we suck as a team." Mikomi stated as-a-matter-of-factly. "There's no denying it. If we can barely catch a friggin bird without almost getting our faces clawed off there has to be something wrong with us."

Koudanshi lamely objected. "To be fair Mikomi-chan, it was a rather large and…"

"You're too good to be making up excuses like that Koudanshi." The kunoichi said with an accusing voice making the prodigy blush shamefully.

"You're right Mikomi-chan. We can all do better than what our current track record suggests. All we need to do is improve our focus, train harder and trust more in each other." He struck a fisted hand into the air to strengthen his point.

"_Easier said than done._" Mikomi thought sarcastically as she rolled her eyes." Did you hear that Kihano? We have to work together here. You know like a team." When no answer came she glanced over at the brown haired boy.

He was silently mumbling to himself and moving his hands about forming sloppy versions of handseals.

Mikomi sighed, stood up and walked over to the still mumbling boy. She placed herself behind his head, casting her shadow over him as she stared into his face. This caught his attention, which he showed by giving Mikomi and annoyed glare.

"What?" The kunoichi restrained the urge to spit in his face.

"Did you hear what we were talking about?" She asked, her teeth practically grinding against each other.

"No," Kihano answered as if the answer was obvious, which it kind of was. "I make it a habit to not listen to the pointless conversations of dumbasses." His smirk reminded Mikomi of a bully from her childhood that she once beat up for making Konki cry.

Sensing the imminent conflict Koudanshi quickly intervened. "We were talking about how we should improve ourselves. As a team. I'm certain that you are aware of our current situation. We are not doing as well as a group of our talents should be doing in completing missions. So me and Mikomi-chan think that it would be in our best interest if we set aside our differences and worked together to reach our goals. Don't you agree?"

Mikomi thought that Koudanshi presented their case rather well. But she could see that Kihano on the other hand was bored by it.

Koudanshi looked expectantly at Kihano who stared back passively without answering. Eventually Mikomi had enough of the silence.

"Just answer him!" She almost screamed with frustrated voice, earning a yawn from Kihano.

"No." The brown haired boy finally answered without elaborating, solely to antagonise the other two gennin even further. It worked on Mikomi but only confused Koudanshi.

"What do you mean by that Kihano-kun?" The prodigy asked with a hint of desperation in his voice.

"I mean, no I don't agree with you." Mikomi found his voice horribly patronising.

"But… but… why?" Koudanshi spluttered out to which Kihano's smirk grew wider.

"I just don't feel like it right now."

Mikomi thought that she should get awarded for the amount of restraint she was showing here. If she didn't she would've already broken every last bone in Kihano's body. It might've worked in the past with bullies but she was a full fledged shinobi now. She couldn't just beat up whoever she wanted, even if they annoyed her more than anything else in the world. Also, she was pretty sure that it would upset Koudanshi greatly to learn that one of his teammates had brutalised the other one. So she bit down and took it, like an adult.

Kihano yawned again and stretched his arms. "Besides, while I can see myself working with other people I draw the line at crazy bitches with temper tantrums and over-hyped pretty-boys." He barely had time to roll away before getting his face smashed by Mikomi's foot.

"_Screw being an adult. I'm taking care of this my way._" The purple haired kunoichi growled in her head as she watched a satisfyingly startled Kihano get up on his feet.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" He screamed at the now ferocious looking girl. "Are you trying to send me to a hospital?!"

"Well, I am a 'crazy bitch with temper tantrums'. So yeah, I'm going to send you to the hospital, or the morgue. Both work for me." She began to slowly approach him while cracking her knuckles, making the subject of her discontent gulp in nervousness.

As she had predicted Koudanshi did not appreciate this turn of events and became frantic and unable to for coherent sentences. "Mikomi-chan, what… don't… please… no…" She would've found it quite funny if she was listening to him.

"If you're trying to scare me into apologising you're way out of your league tomboy." Kihano said seriously. "Believe me, you've got nothing my mom, who's actually really scary."

"Don't care. I just want to do this." She punctuated her words by suddenly speeding up to run. Surprised by the burst of speed Kihano couldn't avoid getting hit by Mikomi's sharp uppercut and was sent flying towards the forest they had recently left.

As he hit the ground Kihano bounced forcefully a few times, each rebound brought him closer to the forest until he smashed into a tree right on the edge of it.

When he managed to sit up against the same tree and refocus himself he could clearly hear Mikomi's footsteps in the grass coming closer and closer.

"Do you remember that time you told me that you hate us?" The calmness of Mikomi's voice frightened Kihano slightly. "Well you know what? I hate you too." Her voice became harsher and angrier with each word. "I hate the condescending way you speak to us. I hate that snide smirk you're always wearing on your face. I hate that you can't even a little civil to Koudanshi when he treats you with nothing but un-earned respect. I hate that such a horrible little jerk of a person like you is on this team. In short, I hate you and I'm going to beat you up."

Without wasting any time Mikomi once again speed up and aimed another fierce punch at Kihano's head. This time however she only hit wood as her punch cracked the tree her target had been leaning against.

"You know," Mikomi turned her head to see a slightly flustered Kihano smirking at her a few meters away. "That was actually a neat speech. Had me scared there, for a moment. But just so know, I'm not going down without a flight." He boasted and subtly reached into a pocket.

"Don't you mean fight?" Mikomi asked as she fisted her hands and walked towards him.

"Nope." Kihano deadpanned and tossed a smoke grenade between them.

The sudden wall of smoke gave the rude gennin more than enough time to sprint into the forest. "I mean flight!" He shouted mockingly. Mikomi found it astonishing how he could always push her anger beyond whatever breaking point she would establish.

She cast aside those thoughts however and ran after her soon to be pounded teammate. Leaving a still stunned Koudanshi alone in the field.

* * *

It didn't take long for her to catch up to Kihano. She was just faster than he was. But she wanted to tease a little first. Show the bastard what it felt like to mocked. Yep, she was going to enjoy this.

"What's the matter jerk!? Scared of fighting a girl are ya?!" His answer was less intimidated and defensive than she had hoped.

"Please! I've spent a large portion of my life trying to kick my mother in either of her temples! There's nothing frightening about fighting a girl! I'm just smart enough to not try to take you on in direct combat!"

In mid-run Kihano spun around and threw three shuriken at Mikomi. The purple haired girl quickly picked out a kunai and used it to knock the projectiles out of the air.

"Anyway, I'm not sure if you really qualify as a girl, tomboy!" Coming from Kihano that infuriated her more than it should have.

Mikomi furiously tossed the kunai at her teammate, hitting him square in the back and knocking him out of his run. As the boy fell to the forest floor Mikomi abruptly halted in shock. Sure she wanted to hurt him, a lot, and scare him as much as possible. But if she knew her anatomy correctly she had just pierced Kihano's spine. Possibly disabling him for life.

"_I didn't want this._" She thought horrified. "_I just wanted to beat him up, not hurt him like this. I… I…_" She honestly couldn't move out of the terror of what she had done.

Then a pebble hit her left cheek and Kihano's fallen body transformed into a log.

"What?" Mikomi exclaimed before she could stop herself. A roaring laughter tore through the air, followed by Kihano's mocking voice.

"Hah, I really wish you could've seen your face just now." She couldn't pinpoint his voice. It seemed to come from all directions. "It was all concerned and shit. Really hilarious, and here I thought that you wanted to send me to the morgue and what not. Turns out you're just full of shit after all." Mikomi fisted her hands so tightly that she almost broke through her own skin. Her expression turned blank and serious. "But don't worry, even my mom fell for that one once. I guess that you gals just can't stand to see cute little me get hurt."

An instant later he silently burst out of a tree crown, readying himself to punch Mikomi in the back of her head. The purple haired raised her arm and elbowed him in the gut, without turning her head.

"_Oh shit._" He thought as Mikomi grabbed his shirt and threw him into a tree. She followed up by running over to him, turning him around and pinning him to the tree with her arm to his throat.

"You never shut up about your mother do you?" She growled and raised her right arm to punch. "I get it. She's a horrible mother and you want to kick her ass. There's no need to tell me stupid horror stories about how poorly you two treat each other." What happened next caught Mikomi completely of guard.

Kihano kneed her hard in the crotch. As she backed of in pain and took her arm off of him Kihano quickly grabbed the collar of her shirt, pulled her towards him and headbutted her in the face, knocking her to the ground.

As she rolled on the ground in pain Kihano jumped high into the air, did a backflip and landed with his feet on the tree. He stared down at the purple haired kunoichi and began talking to her with the most serious voice she had ever heard him use.

"First of all, I love my mother. She teaches me cool things like the fact that kneeing women between their legs will hurt, even if they don't have anything there. And I keep telling you stuff about my mom because you remind me of her. You're both violent and loud as all hell. The difference is that I couldn't care less about your wellbeing." Mikomi stared up at him with an incredulous look in her eyes.

"Yes I do fight with my mother, get my ass kicked by her on a daily basis and we annoy each other like its nobodies business. But I still love her." Mikomi blinked. This was a side she hadn't even considered Kihano capable of having. Human feelings for another person. Maybe she had misjudged him. Maybe there was a chance that they could be friends. He shattered all those thoughts with a single follow-up question.

"Can you say the same about you and your father?" Everything went quiet. She easily jumped up to the same height as Kihano and the two stared at each other for less than a second. That was all the time Kihano needed to understand his situation. Anymore goading was unnecessary at that point. Uchiha Mikomi's mind had gone into a blind rage.

They moved at the same time. Mikomi threw a punch and Kihano launched himself from the tree. The purple haired girl opened her hand to grab onto the tree and place her feet on it so that she wouldn't fall. Not caring about the dents she made Mikomi watched as Kihano sailed towards another tree. Then she began to from seals.

"Katon: Goukakyuu no jutsu!" In her anger-fuelled state Mikomi didn't notice that her fireball was much larger than usual or that Kihano was panicking, not that she would care about that.

Kihano was engulfed by fire and fell to the ground only to once again transform into a log. For a moment noting except the fires on the log moved. When the sound of running feet was heard Mikomi reacted instantly and disappeared in a blur.

She easily caught up with him as he was trying put as much distance between them as possible. The target of Mikomi's anger barely noticed his assailant as she ran up to his side. When he did notice she was already half-way through a round house kick.

For the second time today Kihano was sent flying through the air. This time he landed on his face before sliding to a painful stop. "_Note to self: If I survive this remember to add issues with her father to the list of things that piss tomboy of too much._"

The normally loudmouthed boy quickly stood up to find that Mikomi was nowhere in sight. Then a sharp killing intent from behind alerted him that she was far from done with him.

Kihano turned his head just in time to see a fist connect with the side of his face. The blow sent him reeling but he managed to stay on his feet thanks to pure willpower, it still hurt like hell though.

Next Mikomi aimed a sharp kick to his torso. Kihano managed to shield himself with his arms, though the only difference was that now his arms were in pain instead of his chest. "_Damnit!_" He thought desperately. "_If she keeps attacking me like this my body will break before I can get used to her speed. How the hell did she get this strong?_"

She attacked with a punch to his face again but this time he narrowly avoided it by dodging to the side. However, he was unable to avoid it when she elbowed him in the chest as a follow up. Then she struck his side with a sharp kick to the ribs. It was followed by a knee to his gut and she finished it all of by cupping her hands together above her head and bringing them down for a fierce smack over Kihano's head.

The boy hit the ground hard and just laid there completely unmoving. He wasn't knocked out or anything, he was just making an assessment of how much damage his body had sustained. "_A few broken ribs, some part of my face is bleeding and I'm pretty sure I have a severe concussion right now. Huh, why isn't she attacking?_"

He pushed himself up with his arms and strained to lift his head and look at the purple haired girl that had been beating him mercilessly mere seconds ago. A silent and cold fury shined in her eyes. It was a sharp contrast to Kihano's confused yet indifferent look.

"So," Ha said after a minute. "Are we having a staring contest now?" Mikomi kicked him in the face so hard that he that flipped over onto his back. "I guess not then."

"Stand up. I don't want to beat up somebody who's lying on the ground." Kihano rolled his eyes, bored by Mikomi's attempt at being honourable.

"Cute," He said with impassive voice as he got up at a deliberately slow pace. "If that's really what you want then ok. I may have a splitting headache but I think that I know you well enough to beat you now." He was put to the test immediately after his words left his mouth as Mikomi attacked him with another burst of speed.

She tried to roundhouse kick him in the face this time but was surprised when she only hit air as Kihano swiftly bent backwards to avoid the attack. Not the least bit deterred Mikomi threw a fierce downward punch aimed at Kihano's abdomen. However, in one swift motion Kihano managed to bend further backwards, stick out his hands until they touched the ground and use them to vault himself out of harms way.

Once again Mikomi ran at Kihano. This time she aimed a punch at his face only for the brown haired boy to quickly sidestep out of the way. Next she tried a straight kick at his chest. Kihano jumped into the air and above the attack. But he wasn't finished there.

Before Mikomi could pull her leg back Kihano grabbed onto it with his left hand. Using the leg as support he swung an unexpectedly quick kick at his purple haired adversary. Surprised by these turn of events Mikomi failed to react fast enough and Kihano's foot hit the side of her face, hard.

As she staggered backwards Kihano touched down on the ground again. The two stared at each other. Mikomi with a shocked expression while Kihano seemed insulted.

"What's with that look? Did you think that I couldn't fight or something?" He asked accusingly. "And you call me condescending."

His mere voice shock her out of her astonished state and back into a furious one. She refused to accept that the person in front of her could fight her on even terms. Believing it was just luck on his part she attacked again.

A furious punch combo flew over his head as Kihano ducked down only to be kneed in the face and knocked flat on his back. In pain but not out of the game yet the rude boy quickly rolled to the left to dodge an elbow slam. He then rolled back and delivered a fisted backhand to Mikomi's head, making her grunt in pain.

The two quickly got up and leapt apart only to run straight towards each other.

Mikomi tried with all her might to hit Kihano with endless combos of punches and kicks. All to no avail as the ever annoying boy weaved in and out of her attack patterns. The whole thing made no sense to Mikomi. She had been kicking him around just fine before but now he was treating her attacks as if they were in slow motion.

"_Something's wrong here._" She thought as Kihano jumped into the air and flipped above her head. When he landed the two quickly turned around and threw a punch each.

Kihano dodge Mikomi's with contemptuous ease.

Mikomi was hit hard in the gut. At least, that's what she thought at first. The punch was real, it was the effect it had on her she questioned. She was stunned, but not because the punch was especially strong or anything. Rather, she was stunned because she thought it would've hurt more.

"_What the hell is going on here? If that's the best punch he can throw he might as well keep throwing pebbles at me._" She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't even react to Kihano grabbing her arm and tossing her over his shoulder. "_I'm stronger than him, faster than him and I'm pretty sure that I'm actually better at taijutsu than him. So why am I losing?! Damnit! This is so frustr…_" Her mind stopped as she hit the ground.

Kihano jumped back, putting some distance between him and the purple haired kunoichi. When he saw that she was breathing but not moving he felt that some appropriate insults were in order.

"You know if this is your entire repertoire I can see why your father is disappointed." He derided. "Turns out you're really nothing but talk and brawn. No brains or actual skill to back it all up. But don't worry. I'm sure that you can have a productive future as a tomboyish circus freak."

When Mikomi didn't jump up to attack him Kihano grew cautious. "Are you sleeping?" No answer. "Wakey wakey, freaky tomboy…e."

"You piss me of." Mikomi stated calmly as she got up on her feet. With her back turned she began to sweep away the dust on her clothes.

"Yeah, I think we established that the first time we met." Kihano deadpanned.

"I remember that. You threw a waterballoon at my face." Her voiced grew agitated but the calmed down again. "But I digress. What I meant was that you've been using my bad temper against me. Pissing me of to the point where I try to bulldoze you like a braindead moron. Am I right?" She turned around to find Kihano try look innocent by whistling and looking in every direction but hers.

"I think that it's impossible for you to look innocent so stop it." She ordered.

Kihano started at her impassively. "I liked you better when you didn't talk."

Mikomi raised an eyebrow. "You don't know when to stop do you?"

"Stop what?"

Mikomi sighed. "I just have one question. How did you find out about my problems with my father? Be aware that if you lie I will rip out your teeth and keep them as a necklace."

The brown haired boy didn't even attempt to lie, he just shrugged. "I was bored and eavesdropped on you and the pretty-boy. It's one of my few vices."

With that Mikomi started walking towards him. A scowl adorning her face and her killing intent terrifyingly focused.

Understanding that his previous tactic wouldn't work Kihano tried a different approach. "I could try to plead for forgiveness and ask that we talk this out. But really, that would just be boring and insulting to both of us. So instead I'm going to do THIS!" Kihano launched a flying kick at Mikomi's head hoping to surprise her with the directness of the attack.

She easily caught his leg when it was inches from her face.

"_Fuck._" Kihano mentally prepared himself for pain.

She pulled him over her shoulder and powerslammed him into the ground, adding a dislocated shoulder to his injuries. Kihano forced himself to not scream in pain, he didn't want to give her that satisfaction.

He was pulled up by his collar and punched in the face with a right hook which was followed by a fisted backhand, much stronger than his, from the same hand. A punch to the gut knocked the wind out of him and an upward kick sent him flying into the air for a third time before he crashed to the ground again.

They were both surprised when he got up on his feet and glared at his assailant, giving her a chance to clearly see what she had done to him.

Two black eyes, bruises all over his face, a broken upper lip and a bloody nose had been added to the eagle-related injuries on his face. The dislocated shoulder was obvious enough and she was pretty certain that she had heard some of his ribs being broken. In short, the boy was a complete mess.

However, she felt no regret whatsoever over her actions. To be honest, she was enjoying it. Maybe a little too much, but she didn't care.

"So, are you going to finish this or what?" Kihano asked casually, whether-asking casually.

"No final insult then?" She smirked and cracked her knuckles.

"I've run out of them for the day. But I promise that if I survive I will come up with several new and interesting ways to tell you how pathetic and stupid you are. Huh, seems like I had one more in me." Childishly sticking out his tongue Kihano grew silent, waiting for the attack.

Deciding to just end it and hopefully get back to Koudanshi before Lee-sensei arrived Mikomi sprung into action. With one punch she would end this. She restrained herself to make sure that the attack wouldn't kill him. Mikomi just wanted to knock him out for the rest of the day. Hopefully he would know not to mess with her when he woke up.

This never happened though as Mikomi suddenly felt her body being assaulted from the side. It was swift, relatively painless and extremely numbing. The purple haired kunoichi could feel herself losing control over her body and falling to the ground. Funnily enough the same seemed to happen to Kihano as he hit the ground the same time as she did, only he had a confused expression on his face. She could also see tiny metal needles sticking out from various places all over his beaten body.

"Thank kami, I made it." The exhausted voice of Roiyaru Koudanshi exclaimed happily as he stepped in between his two fallen teammates.

"What did you do to us, mr. holier than thou?" Kihano asked with a strained voice.

"I have used senbons and the knowledge of acupuncture to hinder the two of you from killing each other in a meaningless battle." His eager attitude made it kind of hard to take his serious expression… seriously.

"Koudanshi," The blue prodigy turned his attention to his female teammate. "Before you go into a triad about the importance of friendship between teammates could you answer a few questions for me?" Koudanshi nodded silently, feeling that is was best to let Mikomi talk unhindered.

"Since when have you been proficient with either senbons or acupuncture? How long will we stay incapacitated? And has Lee-sensei come back yet?"

Koudanshi started cheerfully. "I found out about my natural skill with the senbon when I was nine and Iruka-sensei pointed it out to me. Ever since then I have trained with them and I have recently begun to study acupuncture to enhance their effectiveness." Then he became more hesitant and nervous. "Since I have only just begun studying the fine art of acupuncture I am uncertain as to how long you and Kihano-kun will remain in a paralysed state." He involuntarily took a step backwards when Mikomi growled slightly. "And Lee-sensei has not shown up to my knowledge. So if we hurry we will be able to get back to the field before he shows up and suspects anything." He said quickly and optimistically.

"Right, so how are going to get there?" Kihano asked with a tired voice causing Koudanshi to look like a big question mark. "And why the hell did you do this to me? I have a friggin dislocated shoulder here! I was in no position of hurting anybody!"

Koudanshi started to fidget with his fingers and responded with a nervous voice. "I panicked."

"Moron." Kihano muttered. His single word sentence was followed by a rhythmic scarping noise. The two boys looked over at Mikomi to see her pulling herself forward with her chin.

"Mikomi-chan, what are you doing?" Koudanshi asked, confused as hell.

"He's still an ass so I'm going to kick him." She answered shortly.

"And you wonder why I call you a freak." Kihano spat out.

Sighing Koudanshi sat down on the ground and stared at his two bickering comrades. He would get back up and somehow transport them back to the meeting field. But for just a moment he would sit down and imagine what it would've been like to be on a non-self destructive team.

* * *

It could be described as paradise. The dainty house in the middle of the clearing was pure white. It reflected the beams of sun that had made it through the tree-tops, illuminating it brightly. In its immediate vicinity there were planted gardens of various kinds. Most of them seemed to be for vegetables and fruit.

The clearing itself was large enough that one could imagine several children playing around in it unhindered. Between the trees behind the house you could barely make out a small lake glistening in the sunshine.

To say that the gennin of team seven were in awe was an understatement.

Konki's eyes were big as saucers and her mouth was hanging open as she daydreamed about herself and Koudanshi living peacefully in this harmonious place.

Chouya smiled widely as she felt like the whole clearing was built just for her to relax in.

Kame's normally worried expression was replaced with a calm one as he was reminded of his true love. Unfortunately he also remembered something his mother once told him. Not wanting to think about that the black haired trapmaster forced himself back to the present and his solemn expression returned.

"Impressive." Sasuke stated without emotion. Mako nodded.

"Indeed. Now allow me to do all the talking here. They won't really appreciate multiple ninjas showing up unannounced. The situation must be handled delicately." Sasuke gave the decoder a blank look. Mako took this as a sign of agreement.

The party went up to the house where Mako knocked loudly on the door three times before stepping back. At first it was silent. Then the sound of walking feet could be heard moving towards the door. It opened up revealing a woman with gentle features dressed in a black dress with a white apron over it. Her hair was silver grey and her eyes light green.

She looked over at Mako with disbelief in her eyes. "Dad?" Mako simply nodded and opened up his arms to meet the woman's hug. "What are you doing here? I thought that you wouldn't show up for another few weeks or so." She suddenly noticed the leaf-nin on her lawn and backed away from her father with a startled expression. "What's going on here?" Mako was about to respond but was unceremoniously interrupted by Sasuke.

"For your father's mission to decode an old scroll he was to have one gennin team from Kusagakure escorting him and another one from Konohagakure bringing the scroll. A little too much attention in my opinion but that's how it is. During his trip from kusa missing-nin assaulted and killed the team assigned to him. Luckily Mako-san was able to flee from them and met up with us. I was able to defeat and kill the missing-nin that had killed Mako-san's escort while my students escaped with him. Unfortunately there was more missing-nin than we thought. Three more showed up but there might be more still. They fought and defeated my team resulting in severe injuries for one of my students. I saved them and we were able to get my injured to student to a hospital in time, but the missing-nins escaped. Now I must ask if we can use your home as a hideout for the time being as it is not on any maps and not many people in the immediate area knows about it. We will remain for as long as your father is here and protect him to the best of our ability. When he is done with the decoding I will personally see him to back to Kusagakure and back here so that he can retire here like you planned. What do you say?"

The woman blinked and was quiet while taking in everything Sasuke had said. Mako was furious at Sasuke for so blatantly disobeying his request and being so direct with his daughter.

"And you are?" The woman asked hesitantly.

"Uchiha Sasuke, jounin from Konohagakure. These are my students. Chouya Akimichi, Uzumaki Konki and Odayaka Kame." He nodded to each of them as he said their names. "And you are Mako-san's daughter, Kinomi. Right?" Kinomi nodded.

"Ok, well please understand Uchiha-san that while I would love to aid you and my father in any way possible my husband and I have tried to stay away from ninja related happenings as much as possible and well your situation is exactly that. A ninja related happening." She talked with an overall firm voice that almost matched Sasuke's and met his stare head-on.

"That's is understandable and reasonable." Sasuke answered. Mako frowned as he was apparently not even considered a participant in the conversation. "But please understand that this is a special circumstance. The only other piece of civilisation is the border village between the countries and quite frankly there we would be sitting ducks for attacks. In this more hidden location we would have a chance to prepare ourselves for any possible attack. To be honest, without your help we will most likely die out there."

The internal struggle could be seen in Kinomi's eyes. In contrast it was impossible to read Sasuke's emotionless expression. That he stared right into Kinomi wasn't really helping her.

"We'll have to bring Hogosha, my husband, into the discussion." She finally said. "He's out fishing right now. But I think that we can make an exception for you guys." It was not with joy that she said those words. Regretful understanding would be a better way to describe it Sasuke thought.

Kinomi invited them into her home. Mako went in first followed by Konki and Kame. As Chouya went past Sasuke she whispered to him. "Sneaky guilt trip Sasuke-sensei."

If she was accusing him or praising him Sasuke did not know. Not that he cared.

* * *

Anko yawned before ordering a plate of dango-sticks from the waitress. Last night had been somewhat hectic with a frisky Kakashi, a stubborn little girl and an hour long shouting-match with Kihano. So she truly appreciated this chance to enjoy a nice breakfast at her favorite bistro.

"Are you listening to me Anko-san?"

She just wished that she could do it alone and not with the self-proclaimed green beast of Konoha as her table partner.

She wasn't really listening to Lee since she had a pretty good guess what he had been talking about. But she decided to act courteous since he was paying for this little snack, even if he didn't know that yet.

"Sorry Lee. I spaced out. You were saying?" She asked with fake interest as Lee repeated himself.

"It's about your son Anko-san. Now I don't want to insult his youthfulness. But he refuses to take part in most of the team's training sessions, insults his teammates at every chance he gets and is often responsible for them more or less failing in their missions." Lee spoke quickly prepared himself for the worst. Mitarashi Anko frightened Lee, even if she was a little past her prime and he could shatter boulders with his bare hands, and he didn't want to be on the receiving end of her wrath. There was just something scary about the way she acted. Her blood fetish and snake-related jutsus didn't either.

Apparently his worries were unfounded as Anko responded to his accusations very calmly. "Yeah, so what?"

Lee blinked confused as Anko's dango-sticks arrived.

"I hope you didn't ask me to come here just to tell me things I already know." She took a bite out one of the snacks. "Because I had to leave Kakashi alone with Koneko to come here, and I don't think that he can handle her when she's that high on sugar." She talked with a casual voice and ignored Lee's eyes asking her to elaborate.

When she didn't the taijutsu expert returned to his original intent.

"I was hoping that you could inform me of the proper way to deal with him so that I can get him to respect me as well as his teammates. You know so that we can become a better team."

Anko took another bite of her dango-stick and slowly chewed on it while blankly staring into Lee's face for a few minutes.

"You can't." She answered shortly and picked up another stick. "He doesn't respect anyone. You just have to learn to work with it." She dug into the stick.

"But you're his mother," Lee said shocked. "Surely you know how to…" He ransacked his mind for a proper expression. "Tame your son. I mean, he respects you."

Anko scoffed. "Well, I'm the exception that confirms the rule, obviously." That idiom had never made any sense to Lee.

Konoha's green beast sighed in frustrated defeat and leaned back in his seat. The senior shinobi took pity on Lee and opted to throw him a bone.

"Look," She said, gaining his attention. "You're trying to see my son as something he's not." She said with a surprisingly maternal tone. "He's not some sweet little kid who hides behind a tough exterior. Kihano really is that rude, loud-mouthed, annoying jerk you meet every day. Just be happy that you don't have to live with him." That Anko could say things like that about her own flesh and blood so nonchalantly concerned him more than the information itself.

"But let me tell you a little secret about Kihano." She leaned in over the table and motioned for Lee to do the same. "You see," She whispered. "It's the only thing he knows." Lee stared at her with a confused look as she finished of another stick before explaining.

"I'm afraid that my tough love way of raising Kihano has been the only real adult influence he has experienced. He and Kakashi don't talk much and you know about the situation with Kihano's father I presume."

Lee nodded. "Yes, your infamous night with…" He stopped when Anko suddenly held a kunai to his throat.

"Then you should know that I don't want to hear that man's name ever again." She hissed and Lee nodded with a terrified look on his face.

Anko pulled the kunai away before continuing. "Anyway. With only me teaching Kihano the ways of the world it is only natural that he would develop a tough and out-spoken personality. Unfortunately a personality like his did not translate well to the ninja academy. His fellow classmates either became scared of him or got into fights, which I'm pretty sure he started, with him."

"How sad." Lee said, feeling that he was getting an understanding of Kihano. Anko laughed him in the face.

"Sad? You've misunderstood my son again Lee. The reactions he got didn't bother him. He liked the fights, verbal or physical, and enjoyed the power that his classmates' fear of him brought, though I think that that bored him after a year or so. The unfortunate thing about it all is that because he never got any friends to play games with he never really got the fundamental principles of teamwork put into his head, not that it bothered him. And if I'm not mistaken that's your entire problem." Anko leaned back into her seat and picked up her penultimate dango-stick.

The jounin nodded. "Yes, yes it is. But tell me this Anko-san." Lee asked with a serious voice that caught Anko's attention. "Why haven't you tried to steer him into a less alienating behavior? I mean it is clear that you know about the problems it has caused, and yet you have not acted upon it. Why is that?" Though he tried to hide it there was a severe hint of accusation in the jounin's tone that Anko didn't like.

"Well, mr. 'Green Beast', I haven't done anything because I happen to like the way my son acts." The senior shinobi stared harshly into Lee's eyes for a moment before calming down. "Look, I'm sorry he's difficult to work with but you have to remember that there're two sides of every coin. My son does have good sides to him. But you have to take his prominent bad sides along with them. It's all or nothing deal to be metaphorical." She finished of the stick and picked up the last one while Lee sighed.

"Don't worry," Anko said while chewing. "It might be too late for you and me to teach him how to work with other people. But I still think that he can learn it himself, somehow." That did not inspire any hope in the taijutsu specialist.

"By the way," Anko began as she was halfway through the stick. "Who was it that beat the shit out of him yesterday?" Lee almost panicked. He had hoped that this wouldn't be brought up as he really did not wish to deliver Mikomi to the vengeful side of Mitarashi Anko.

"I don't really remember. You see I wasn't…"

"Lee." Anko interrupted with a glance.

"It was Uchiha Mikomi, the female member of our squad." Lee found himself saying out of pure reflexive horror.

"Really." Anko said delightfully as she pulled the finished dango-stick out of her mouth with a smack. "Tell her she did a nice work."

"What?" Lee exclaimed, startled.

"Don't get me wrong. I do love my son. But, as we've established here, he is an asshole and sometimes he just needs a beating. I'm thinking that he deserved it this time." A smirk played across Anko's face as she stood up. "Now then, thanks for paying for the snack Lee."

"But I…" Lee began hesitantly when Anko suddenly pulled out a kunai and tossed it at another customer in the bistro. The kunai knocked off the customer's large straw hat revealing a shocked Kihano underneath it.

"What the hell!?" He shouted and looked over at his mother and Lee's table. "YOU!"

"Why aren't you at home doing your morning training?!" Anko gleefully shouted at him.

"You obviously weren't there so why should I!?"

"But you didn't know that until just now otherwise you wouldn't have snuck out!"

"Of course I snuck out, your morning training is insane!"

"Well now that we're both here you're going through with anyway! Twice!" With that the shouting match ended and Anko lunged at her son.

For a few minutes Anko relentlessly chased Kihano around the bistro causing chaos amongst the tables. Eventually the boy fled through and open window and the mother followed. With the two of them gone calm began to return.

Lee was in shock when the same waitress that had delivered Anko's dango-sticks showed up at the table with a check for the snacks. "Don't worry about it. They do this every couple of months, so we're used to it." She said with a smile.

"I see, and I supposed that I'm paying for Anko-san's meal as well." Lee said with a resigned voice.

"Yep, you're the third person this month that Anko-san has tricked into paying for her." The waitress responded cheerfully.

Lee unwillingly forked over the cash to the waitress as he thought about what he now knew about Kihano. Being the boy's sensei was going to be harder than he thought. But if there was one thing he never did it was to back away from a challenge. Even if that challenge did insult his hair to his face rather than behind his back like everybody else.

* * *

Kame tossed and turned in his bed. He was sweating furiously and crying silently. You'd have to be an idiot to not see that he was having a nightmare.

In his mind distorted or mixed memories flashed before his eyes. H e could clearly see his mother crying on the couch as he came home from his first day at the academy one moment only to suddenly find himself locked in a closet, hiding from something, the next. Another time he would be in a garden he didn't recognise, chopping away at the air with a wooden sword, only to end up kneeling in front of his father in a dark room.

The only thing that was the same in all these scenes was that he would always end up alone. Whether it was because a person would walk out of the room naturally or just disappear Kame always ended up alone in the darkness.

Then, **he** showed up.

Yaiba would step out, out of nowhere most of the time, and kill Kame. He never said a word. All he ever did was to glare at the young trapmaster and shove a sword through his gut.

After the umpteenth time of this happening Kame finally woke up. A quick look around the room told him that Sasuke wasn't there and the light radiating from the window indicated that it was morning.

He tried to calm down as memories of last night rushed to him. Sasuke and Mako had managed to convince Kinomi and Hogosha to let team seven stay with them for the time being. Then at the briefing the one thing that wasn't allowed to happen did happen.

Mako never told the rest of the team about Yaiba or why the missing-nin wanted him dead. All they had come up with was that the missing-nin were after the scroll and not Mako. Kame had wanted to say something but he just couldn't.

Instead he heard himself say short, stuttering and horrible unintelligent answers about anything related to the fight. In retrospect, it made him sick.

If he was honest to himself he knew what he had to do. He had to tell them all the truth.

"_But then there will be questions. Questions that I will have to answer. And answering them means that they will get closer to me and that means… Coward. You know what you have to do here. Now do it and worry about the consequences later._"

He stiffly got out of bed and walked over to the bedroom door. There he stood for a good minute or two without moving an inch, except for the shaking of course.

"_DO IT!_" He screamed in his mind and kicked the door open.

Kame ran through the hallway leading to the kitchen/dining room so that he wouldn't have the time to change his mind.

He looked practically vivid when he burst in through the door. His eyes ablaze with desperation and his face clearly exhausted. His body covered in cold sweat that showed through his white pyjamas. The trapmaster stared intensely at the decoder for a second before shouting the first thing that came to him.

"STOP LYING!"

He could've been more eloquent.

Normally six pairs of eyes staring at him would send the gennin into a nervous fit. But no this time. This time only his left eye twitched frequently.

"Kame-kun? What are you talking about? Who's a liar?" Konki asked with a confused voice.

The black-haired boy's breathing became irregular and he realised that he had to get it out of him before anybody else talked to him.

"I… n-need to t-tell you a-all s-s-something."

Sasuke looked at a watch attached to the wall and smirked in his head. "_Well look at that. An entire half-hour to spare._"

* * *

**Author's note**: They just keep getting longer and longer. Ok the next one will be shorter. I promise myself that more than anyone else.

Anyway, I do hope that you guys enjoyed this. Now please review, this especially goes out to all the people who's put this on their favourite list or alert list. I do appreciate that guys but I would really love some more reviews.

Until next time.


	6. A proverbial calm

**Author's notes**: Lets see… Besides not owning Naruto I don't really have anything else to say. You know besides that I hope you enjoy the chapter and all.

So, I hope you enjoy the chapter.

**6. ****A proverbial calm**

"_Ok honey, you know the drill. You have to remember to never repeat what I'm about to tell you to anyone. Not even your father. Understood?"__ The six year-old Kame nodded enthusiastically to his mother from his position on her lap._

_He loved it when she would tell him stories about her old village. They were much more interesting tha__n the fairytales in his books. He also felt that they brought him closer to his mother. This, incidentally, was Tora's main purpose with it all._

"_You know your friend Yaiba's clan is called the Kentou clan right?" Kame nodded once again, happy that this tale would be about a subject he was already a little familiar with. "Good. What you may not know is that the Kentou clan is a very prestige clan in Kusagakure. Ever since the village was founded their warriors have been the greatest in the village and the top rookie every year almost always comes from them."_

_She paused for a moment. "Except, of course, for the year I graduated." She boasted. "That time it was me who grabbed the top spot. Not that my opposition was poor or anything. I was just an exceptional gennin according to all my peers and teachers. So naturally…"_

"_Mom, focus." Tora halted her rant, stared at her amused son and nodded shortly before continuing her story._

"_The point is that they have a legacy of being brilliant warriors. Unlike many of Konoha's more famous clans the Kentou clan doesn't have any bloodline to make them stand out. Instead they're __all masters with every form of close combat weaponry." Kame nodded in agreement._

"_Yaiba-san is really good at kendo. He defeated me really easy last time we visited them." He recounted._

_Tora raised an eyebrow.__ "So that's were this recent interest in kendo comes from." Kame grinned mischievously and nodded fervently._

_Tora decided to let it go, for now. "Anyway, the Kentou clan isn't just good with weapons. They're extraordinary with them. As soon as they can stand the art of armed combat is drilled into them. Most of the time they will have chuunin level accuracy and almost complete mastery of at least one close combat weapon by the time they enter the academy." She paused and let the image sink into her son's active imagination._

"_Since they're all so well-trained they have a completely different idea of what a prodigy is. It's only when somebody with quite frankly unbelievable skills shows up that any noise is made about them." She grinned knowingly at her son. "Yaiba-kun is one of those persons."_

_As expected the young boy's eyes grew to the size of saucer plates as he made a low sound of amazement. "Yaiba-san is that good?" He asked after a few minutes._

_Tora nodded. "Yep, but that's not all. The reason I'm telling you this is because in a few days time Yaiba-kun will become the Kentou-clan's War Representative."_

_In an attempt at feigning understanding Kame nodded slowly. The shifty movement of his eyes gave him away to his observant mother, who suppressed a small laugh._

"_That basically means that he will be trained much harder than before in all the ninja arts. He will also be taught advance strategic thinking, weapon forging, because he needs to know how to create weapons of his own, and proper behavior. Can you guess why Yaiba-kun would need to know all these things when he becomes the War Representative?"_

_For a few minutes Tora could see the wheels turning in her son's mind before he tentatively answered. "Because he will be the boss of his clan and has to be good at everything?__" Tora expertly held back a small giggle._

"_Almost," She said after calming herself down. "When he becomes older he will be the head field leader in his clan as well as the clan's public face. Responsibility like that requires you to be the best of the best so that he can be a good representative for the clan. And believe me, he's earned it. Yaiba-kun was proficient wit three different weapons when he entered the academy, instead of just one. There's even talk about him graduating in a year or so."_

_As Tora finished her sentence Kame's face twisted in shock before sinking into a more sullen expression._

"_Honey, what's the matter?" The black haired woman worriedly asked while stroking her son's cheek._

"_Yaiba-san is really special and now he'll get super-training to become even more special." The boy answered with a grumpy voice. "I won't ever be able to beat him."_

_Realisation dawned on Tora and she firmly hugged her son close to her body. "Oh honey. Don't you worry about that. You're just as special as Yaiba-kun and don't dare think anything else. He's just got a head start since he's older and he may be great with weapons but I bet my staff that he's nowhere near as good with traps as you are."_

_Since the child in her lap wasn't known for his way with words he tried to express his gratefulness with a hug. Tora accepted it with a smile._

"_You know," Tora said after awhile. "Karami has invited us to a celebratory party for Yaiba-san. It'll be about a week after his inauguration. We could put in some extra training for you if you want to." The former grass-nin sounded very much like a saleswoman and her son picked up on it._

"_You just want dad to stop hogging all my training sessions." He said with smirk, never letting go of the hug._

_This time Tora did laugh a little at her son's perceptiveness. It was true that she thought that her husband did dominate the direction of their son's training. But she didn't let that bother her. Partly because she did have these little sessions where she confided another clan's secrets to her son, it troubled her conscience much less than she thought it would. It wasn't as if it was anything critically important anyway._

"_I have no idea what you mean." She answered with the same mischievous attitude her son had displayed a moment ago. "Anyway, we can toughen you up a little and make sure that Yaiba-kun won't forget you when he becomes a big shot. Ok?"_

_Kame backed away from the hug and nodded happily._

_Tora smiled when she remembered one more thing about Yaiba's coming promotion. "You should get ready to be a little surprised though. Karami told me that Yaiba-kun will have gotten a make over to match his new position."_

_With that said Tora motioned for Kame to get off her lap, which he did and stood in front of her. Tora herself got down on her knees so that they were on the same eye level._

"_Now that this information has been passed on to you we will recite the ancient oath of silence. Put your hands in the proper positions." She said with a mock serious voice as Kame tried to not giggle._

_Kame and Tora both put their right hands over their hearts and held up their open left hands before speaking loudly in perfect synchronisation._

"_I promise to never ever repeat what has been revealed in this gathering of the minds, especially to Odayaka Kuma. Should I break this sacred pledge may my sleep be disturbed by polar bears on unicycles for an entire month."_

_They finished it all by clapping together their left hands and nodding shortly. For a moment they stared into each others eyes before falling over in hysterical laughter._

* * *

Kame forced himself to not shed any tears as he remembered he and his mother had about Yaiba. He had managed to repeat the vital information to the people surrounding him while keeping away all the personal details. Now, however, came the hard part of the story.

He remained quiet to let the other people in the common room process all the new information as he gathered up the guts to tell them what else he had to say and push the memory of happier times into the back of his mind.

Sasuke was sitting beside him on the couch in Kinomi and Hogosha's common room. The jounin had made him take a shower, get dressed and eat before sitting down like this. He kept a stoic yet firm gaze on his student, ready to force him to continue his story should it be needed.

Konki and Chouya were sitting on separate chairs across from their teammate. The blonde had all her attention zeroed in on her male teammate. She was happy that he would finally tell them something about himself. Of course, the circumstances could be better. Chouya was less focused, her eyes closed and her head moving back and forth like a pendulum. She was listening; she just wasn't looking like she did.

Mako had chosen to stand next to the couch and lean against the wall. He seemed unusually fidgety, Sasuke noted. He had also noted that Mako's nervousness seemed to increase with the amount of information Kame told them. Sasuke found that very intriguing.

The sharingan user glanced over at the doorway. He was pretty certain that their generous and easily manipulated hosts, who had firmly claimed that they didn't want to hear Kame's story, were hiding out of sight and listening intently.

"So we can assume that the fancy tattoos are a kind symbol for Yaiba's rank as the 'War representative'." Chouya said out loud with an appraising voice.

"I g-guess s-so." Kame was thankful that the short girl pondered away on the information in her own mind rather than asking him follow up questions.

"If he was such an important person to the clan then why is he now a missing-nin? Did they all die or something?" Konki asked bluntly to which Kame shook his head.

"Well, what happened to him them?" The blonde asked anxiously.

The stuttering boy sighed sadly but remained silent for a few more minutes.

Growing tired of the delay Sasuke unceremoniously smacked the back of his black haired student's head. "Keep talking." He commanded stoically.

Kame nodded and began divulging information again, after shifting his eyes' attention to the floor. "I th-think i-it happened a f-few d-days a-a-after Ya-yaiba's i-inauguration. He w-was s-sort of k-kidnapped." Each word that came out of his mouth was more strained than usual.

"Sort of?" Konki questioned.

Kame nodded. "A b-be-better word w-would be t-traded. Th-the da-dai-daimyo's d-daughter ha-had been kidnapped b-by missing-n-nin. Th-they d-demanded th-that Yaiba-san would be ha-handed o-over t-to them in e-exchanged for…

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Kame and Konki jumped a little in their seats at Mako's outburst, along with Kinomi and Hogosha accidentally revealing their heads for a splitsecond in the doorway, while Sasuke and Chouya didn't even flinch.

The four ninjas stared at the old man who was very flustered at this point, and was staring furiously at Kame. "I don't know who the hell you are but there is no conceivable way that you could know any of this!" The decoder seemed to grow in stature as he stood before the timid gennin.

Konki was about to tell the old man to off when Sasuke motioned for her to sit down and observe.

"How do you have such intricate familiarity of the Kentou clan's inner workings? How can you know about an event that has been forbidden to even be spoken about outside of Kusagakure?" His voice suddenly mellowed down. "Nobody was supposed to know." The commented seemed directed at no one in particular. But he quickly refocused on Kame. "And you speak of Kentou Yaiba as if he was your friend. I demand to know how you, a mere konoha gennin, could even be aware of any of these happenings."

The young trapmaster only response was to shake visibly.

Sasuke sighed and stared dejectedly into the wall. "You know, I had hoped to save that for later." He spoke with an accusatory tone that was obviously directed at Mako, even if the jounin wasn't looking at the decoder. "But it is a fair point."

He turned to his quivering student. "Kame, stop shaking and please tells us how you've come across all this information."

"M-my m-mother came from k-kusa b-be-before moving to l-leaf. She used t-to t-tell me stories a-ab-about the vi-village and it's f-families. It w-was a bonding th-thing." The sad tone brought the mood down severely in the room, not that it had been the best of moods prior to that. But that wasn't what Konki focused on when she listen to her teammate's voice.

It was the odd mix of obvious reluctance and rehearsed phrasing that intrigued her. "_He really doesn't want to talk about this. And yet, it seems like he's given this speech before. Maybe this has something to with the help Sasuke-sensei had said he'd gotten before._" Whatever it was she suspected that it was the only thing keeping him calm because his voice was getting shakier as he went along.

"I h-had met Ya-yaiba-san ea-earlier. Our m-mo-mothers w-were friends and s-so w-were we."

"And who is this mother of yours?" Mako interrupted with a doubtful voice. "Because I highly doubt that any shinobi of Kusagakure would reveal information such as this for the sake of bonding." Konki noticed a sharp twitch in the trapmaster's body when Mako spoke. But he didn't reply.

Sasuke did it for him. "Her maiden name was Kyoumou Tora." Mako's confrontational expression was replaced by a shocked one. A moment later he seemed to be surprisingly accepting about the information. "I suspect that you are familiar with that name." Sasuke added upon seeing the decoder's reaction.

Mako sat himself down, next to Kame, with a dejected face. "Yes, and I believe you kid. Tora was the kind of person that knew stuff she shouldn't know and blabbed about it." Another twitch.

"But that doesn't explain how either she or you could know anything about Yaiba's kidnapping. It was a strictly confidential matter that was supposed to never leave the village." He stared at the boy, who kept his eyes on the floor.

"Well, apparently it did leave the village and I want to know what happened." Konki said out loud before she could stop herself, attracting a hardened gaze from Mako.

"I said it was confidential. That means…"

"Classified, top secret, private, off the record, hush hush, etc. I know what the word means." The blonde said with an indignant voice. "But I don't really care about that right now. We have a mission and part of that mission is to fight the people that want to kill you. Understanding at least one those people would help us a lot more than you might think."

Sasuke figured that he could probably have put it better than the Hokage's daughter, but she certainly got to the point of it all effectively enough. He even smiled slightly with pride for a moment.

Unfortunately the speech didn't seem to work on Mako. "No. Only the leader of Kusagakure and the village's high council may speak of this matter. It is something that no grass ninja, even the Kentou family, is allowed to speak of." His voice was final. But naturally the subject wasn't left alone.

"But there're no grass ninja within this house." Chouya pointed out with a flat voice, making Mako cringe. "So if you don't mind I'd like to hear the rest of the story."

"But nobody is supposed to know!" Mako screamed with desperation. "They promised me that no one would find out about it." Sasuke wasn't sure if he was talking to them or himself.

"Know what?" Mako stared at the jounin as if he was insane. Sasuke ignored it. "What is it that nobody is supposed to know?"

For a moment there was silence as Mako seemed unable to figure out what to do.

Kame took this chance to speak up with an uncommonly frustrated voice.

"H-he wa-was the one th-that au-authorised the tra-trade." All eyes were once again upon the black haired boy. "Wh-when Yaiba-san wa-was h-ha-handed over to missing-nin M-mako was th-the one t-to give the f-fi-final a-app-approval of it. It is be-because of h-him th-that Yaiba-s-san w-was ta-taken from his home a-and family."

"Now, wait just a…" Mako tried, but was once again interrupted.

"On t-top of th-that Ya-yaiba-san's m-mother was sick a-and cou-couldn't stand up or st-stop her own vi-village f-from gi-giving away her son. Sh-she d-died a few d-days later from the d-disease."

Kame paused to take a deep breath. At that time two pairs of footsteps could be heard swiftly away from the room. "_Hearing about your father's crimes isn't very fun I guess._" Sasuke's thoughts shifted to Mikomi for a second. But he expertly pushed them back.

"Be-before a-anybody asks, I kn-know all this be-because Karami-san, Yaiba-san's m-mother, s-sent a letter to my mo-mo-mother. Only, sh-she wasn't th-there wh-when it arrived. I w-was. And I w-was cu-curious a-and read it." Suddenly the stuttering boy glared intensely at Mako. "Sh-she wrote that le-letter because no-nobody in her vi-village w-was allowed to ta-talk about what ha-had happened! B-because you w-were a-all ashamed of what ha-had happened! Sh-she had nobody else to turn to! My mother set out to comfort her but before she reached Kusagakure Karami-san had died!" He was standing and where the decoder had previously towered over Kame the roles seemed reversed now.

"Her son had been abandoned by his own people and she couldn't do anything to stop it and she died without having anybody to help her and it was YOUR FAULT!"

Kame was breathing heavily while Mako's head hung in shame. Sasuke's body language remained completely neutral as he observed his two female students. Chouya had taken on a silently serious look with her head tilted to the side. Konki eyes seemed to have grown twice their size and be on the verge of tears.

"Sa-sa-sasuke-sensei." The jounin shifted his eyes to the boy, who seemed to have reverted to his timid persona. It was pretty easy to figure out what the kid wanted.

"If you've told us everything you know about the enemy you can go." Without hesitation Kame turned around and quickly ran out of the room.

Konki was shaking in her chair and eyed the door. Sasuke sighed. "You may go if you want to."

The blonde jumped out of her chair, hastily thanked her sensei and ran after her teammate.

"What about you?" Sasuke asked the last remaining member of his gennin team.

Chouya shook her head in response. "I doubt that Konki-chan will accomplish much and I am honestly more interested in the details that Kame-san obviously didn't know about than his current mood. So I'm going to stay." Her cheerful way of talking was unnerving but she did have a point.

The sharingan master turned to Mako, who seemed to have sunken into a state of depression. "While this is obviously quite disturbing for you I must insist that you pull yourself together. As Chouya has pointed out, there're clearly details about the incident that Kame probably missed out on. In short, we still have a few questions for you."

"I've regretted that decision my whole life." Mako sniffed. "I've tried to ignore it, but I guess…"

Sasuke stopped listening at that point. Instead he leaned his forehead against his index finger in an aggravated fashion. "_Why do I always get the emotional drama queens?_"

As Mako kept rambling on depressingly Sasuke counted backwards from ten and Chouya resumed wagging her head to the sides.

"Ok listen," Sasuke abruptly said loudly, catching Mako's attention. "You feel guilty, fine. Some of it is probably your fault, as Kame so elegantly pointed out. But you do know that the missing-nin that staged the whole thing is much more to blame than you. And you had nothing to do with the boy's mother dying. That was the disease. So please, stop wallowing in your own misery and help us out here." He said the last part with a, in Chouya's mind, too harsh voice.

The decoder nodded, took a deep breath and stabled himself as much as possible. "What do you want to know?"

* * *

Konki found Kame outside the house, leaning against a wall and groaning miserably. The blonde approached slowly but made sure that her steps could be heard.

Once she was within arms length and certain that he knew she was there Konki said the first thing that came to her mind. "Is there anything I can do? You know, to make you feel better."

The response Kame gave her sounded weird. It was as if he was trying to sound harsh but failed. "I'm f-fi-fine. Th-there's no n-need to co-co-concern y-yourself with h-how I'm fee-feeling." He glanced back at her with a tired eye.

The blonde made a note of what a horrible actor the boy was. "You're fine huh?" She unconvinced. "The tiny puddle of puke in Kinomi-san's roses says differently." She pointed out bluntly.

Kame looked down at the mess he had made in the flowers and sighed. "I ha-haven't t-t-talked that m-much w-within s-such a sh-short t-time pe-period in ye-years." He said with a weary voice.

Konki smiled slightly. "Well, that's good then." She said optimistically. "It's means you're coming out of your shell."

Kame shook his head. "No. It m-means th-that I re-really d-don't wa-want to t-talk m-more r-right now." There was a kind of reluctant tone in his voice. As if he didn't want to say it.

Of course, that didn't mean that the blonde girl wasn't hurt. "Oh…" She mumbled. "Well, I guess I'll be going back then." She turned around dejectedly when she heard a very silent whisper coming from the black haired boy.

"Huh?" Konki stopped for a moment and stared at Kame. "I'm s-s-sorry." He didn't elaborate any further, but that didn't matter to the Hokage's daughter. It was the sincerity in his voice that made her happy.

"That's ok." She said with as calm a voice as possible. "Take your time. Just know that if you ever need to talk I'm ready to listen."

"Tha-thanks." Kame mumbled. The blonde smiled cheerfully and went back into the house, resisting the urge to skip happily. "_I'm making progress._" She thought optimistically.

Kame on the other hand was far from optimistic. Instead he felt quite sick with himself. "_I'm pathetic. I know that, and yet I can't stop feeling the way I do._" He looked up at the sky and came to a decision. "_I have to see Yaiba-san again._"

* * *

It never ceased to astound Yaiba how calm Oru could be in situations like this. Here they were in a hospital trying to gather information on the ninjas they had attacked, because apparently they sucked at tracking and Same and Hanmyou weren't as charismatic as them, and things had gone a little bad.

The woman at the desk had refused to give them the patient information they needed. Naturally the orange haired teenager's short temper had gotten the best of him and he grabbed the woman in a chokehold and quickly pulled her into the closest empty room. Despite this, and the crazy look in his eyes, Oru calmly observed the situation with a saint-like smile. It was strangely unnerving to Yaiba but he didn't let that distract him as he kept a tight hold on the older woman.

"Now miss… whatever the hell your name is." Oru said sweetly. "As you can probably tell, my future husband has a temper problem. Trust me, he will have no problem with snapping your neck. Now, all we want is some information and then you can go." When the woman still looked hesitant Oru sighed, while never letting go of her smile.

"Your work ethics are admirable but stupid. Think about it, you're protecting people who don't even remember you and they will most likely not consider that you 're valiantly sacrificing yourself for their safety. We would love to let you go back to your life, even if you'll be somewhat traumatised. We just want information. So, what do you say?"

She didn't say much, she just nodded and led them to the patient archive where she started digging out the files they needed. Under the watchful, and violent, eyes of the young man who had almost chocked her she dared not try to alert anybody to her situation. Instead she just handed the files over to the eerily smiling girl who started reading them casually, as if she was in no hurry.

"Let's see now. Our cute little adversaries are Uzumaki Konki, I think that's the Hyuga kid, Akimichi Chouya, remind me to tell Same that I got dibs on her. Both of them had minor injuries and were mostly exhausted. Otherwise they seemed to have made it out of here just fine, too bad for us." Yaiba rolled his eyes. Telling her to read faster would just make her procrastinate even more. So he sucked it up and only let his attitude show on his face.

"Now let's see if the condescending little kid you chopped up so very nicely survived." That actually made the weapons master smirk. He found it funny how a little cut on her face would affect Oru's mood so much. "Ok his name is Odayaka Kame,"

"_Heh, Odayaka. Just like the guy Tora-sama married…_" Yaiba reflexively thought. Then the world slowed down for the former grass ninja. "_And they had a kid named… Shit._" Oru was unaware that Yaiba's face contorted itself in an unusual display of panic and fear. "_I've killed Tora-sama's kid! If… No, WHEN she finds out she'll track me down and kill me. No, she'll break all my bones, rip out my tongue and gouge out my eyes. Then she'll kill me!_" Involuntarily he began to sweat and held his breath. "_I have to get away. It's not safe with these buffoons. That's it, I'll kill the old bastard and then I'll run like hell. The pain won't be half as bad as what Tora-sama will do…_"

"Aww, he survived too." Oru's disappointed voice brought her partner back to reality.

He tried to express his confusion but it was hindered by the breath he suddenly wasn't holding anymore. "Oh well, I guess that means we'll just have to kill them all properly this time. Right Yaiba-kun?" She turned to her crush, who seemed uncharacteristically distracted.

Feeling that it was best to take it outside Oru quickly knocked out the desk woman with a punch and led Yaiba out a window.

"Yaiba-kun, is something wrong?" She asked concernedly before cheering up at an unmistakeable possibility. "Is there something you want to confide to me, and me alone?"

Not sure what to make of the situation Yaiba just said the first thing that came to his mind. "I call dibs on the boy." Oru let her disappointment clearly show. But being a hopeful person she rebounded quickly.

"Is that because he gave my beautiful face this horrible scar and you want to punish him for it?" Yaiba grunted an affirming noise, not prepared for the reaction it would bring. "You DO love me Yaiba-kun!" The purple haired kunoichi squealed and latched on to his arm. Normally he would've shoved her away at this point but Yaiba was too deep in his thought for that. Oru mistakenly took this as a sign of affection and gripped his arm harder.

"_It will probably be for the best if I am the one to confront Kame. I have to send him away so that he's not hurt and Tora-sama won't want retribution. I'll have to play this delicately._" He calculated as memories of one-sided kendo based sparring session resurfaced from the back of his mind.

* * *

"So Mako-san used to be a mediator between the greater clans of Kusagakure and had a veto-vote over important decisions?" Konki asked Chouya as they followed Sasuke.

"Pretty much. It was intended to be a way to settle inter-clan related spouts before they became too serious." Chouya yawned.

"If it was between clans then why was he called in for something like Yaiba being turned over? That sounds like it would just affect his clan."

"Mainly because the other clans started butting in when the daimyo threatened to withdraw all the village's funds unless they saved his daughter's life. Mako-san quit after that and became a decoder." Chouya said right before they stopped in front of the lake.

The jounin had taken his two students to the lake a distance away from their current quarters. "Ok then. This is where you two are going to be training your asses off for as long as you need to." He turned to Konki first. "You know what you're going to be doing."

The blonde nodded and reminisced back to last night.

* * *

_After having gorged __a rather impressive amount of food for a girl her stature Konki was finally sated. "Mmmm. Thank you for the great meal Kinomi-san. It was the best thing I've all week, except for every ramen meal of course." The blonde said loudly to a slightly twitching Kinomi._

"_You're welcome… Konki, was it?" The blonde nodded and carried her dinner plate to the sink. When it seemed like she was about to wash it Kinomi quickly intervened. "I'll do that, you can join your friend in the guest room."_

"_Ok, thanks again." Based on her cheery disposition Konki seemed to have failed to notice the slight hostility that Kinomi emitted, or she just ignored it and was a courteous guest._

_Besides the__ two ladies only Mako remained in the room. Everybody else had gone to bed and Konki was about to join those people and leave father and daughter to a most awkward conversation._

_The blonde went to corner where all their bags had been thrown. She pulled out her bag from behind Mako's accidentally knocking that one over, spilling it's content over the floor. "Oops, sorry Mako-san. I'll pick it up for you." Mako hurried over._

"_No," He said with a frustrated sigh. "Just go to bed, I'll do it." Deciding it was best to not argue with him Konki stepped aside and let the decoder pick up his belongings, though she felt obligated to stay and supervise the proceedings._

_Once he was done she noted that he had indeed missed a small paper. She picked it up and notified him of this._

_Mako glanced at it dismally. "You take it. It's of no use to me." The blonde stared it with a confused look before asking what it was. "Push a little chakra into it and it will reveal your elemental chakra affinity. It was supposed to be a test for one of the gennin from my village when this mission was over. Obviously that can't be done now." Understanding that now was the time to leave Konki wished them good night and quickly left the room._

_The daughter of the hokage had heard enough arguments in her lifetime to know when two people where fighting. And the words that could be heard from the dining room were definitely fighting words. Still, that wasn't what occupied the most space in her mind at the moment._

_Instead she stared at the affinity revealing paper with great anticipation._

_She had heard that having an elemental affinity was essential to achieving the higher ninja ranks. She had also heard that it was something you didn't test until you later in your career. Maybe she wasn't ready yet._

_After about a second of that line of thoughts she decided to try it out anyway._

_She pushed what she hoped was an adequate amount into the paper._

"_What are you doing up so late?" She heard her sensei's voice say suspiciously, making her turn around._

_When she did Sasuke could see the remainder of the tiny paper disappear in flames._

* * *

"Learning to fight with fire based techniques will give you so much needed range and diversity to your fighting style." The jounin said to the attentive byakugan user. "To begin you have to master a basic technique that I bet you've seen me use a few times. Watch my hands." She watched closely and put the hand seals Sasuke formed to heart.

"As you form the seals you gather chakra in your stomach to blow it out of your mouth at which point the chakra forms into a fireball, and of course you have to say the words." Konki nodded enthusiastically, eager to stop listening and begin. "You just keep repeating that procedure until you can do it properly." Then he gave her a rare smirk of confidence. "I'm certain that it'll take you two days or less to fully learn it. After that you can move on to more advanced techniques." Konki gave him an assertive smirk.

"Please, I've got a trick that'll make it go even faster." She was about to form the seal for kage bunshin when Sasuke stopped her.

"I know what you're thinking and it's a decent idea but it's also more taxing at the end of the day and I don't know if we can afford that. However," He said after a moment of consideration. "I do believe that it will be ok if you keep it down to three clones."

"As you wish sensei." The blonde saluted affectionately.

"Whatever," Sasuke said, back to his seemingly emotionless self. "Just make sure that you do it better than Mikomi." The jounin seemed to miss the confused expression that crossed Konki's face at that, in her opinion, uncalled for shot at his daughter and her best friend.

"As for you Chouya…" He turned around to where the short girl had been standing only to find the space void of any oddly behaved and well toned little girls.

A quick search of the area revealed her to be squatting by the lake, looking into the small body of water with mild interest.

Sasuke walked over to Chouya and put a hand on her back. "I'm glad you've taken such an interest in the lake because it'll be your main training ground for now."

"It's barely an interest at all. It was just more fascinating than what you were saying sensei." She deadpanned with a straight face. "And what do you mean that it'll be my 'main training ground'?"

Sasuke ignored the disrespecting remark. "Your main weaknesses are your stamina and speed. You're going to train up the former by running laps on the lake. You do know how to use chakra to walk on the water, right?"

"I know it well enough." Chouya said as she poked the water with suspicious finger. "Cold."

"Good, then this'll also be a chance to practice your chakra-control as well. Something that's good for your fighting style." He hushed up for moment to see how curious she was about the information he hadn't mentioned yet.

She did not disappoint. "What about the speed-part?"

"I'm glad you asked." When Chouya felt Sasuke back away from her she turned around in time to see him perform a summoning jutsu. She did not like where this was going.

The summoned snake wasn't all that large, at least not compared to the ones she had seen a few days ago. But it could still encircle her body a few times over. It was red to the color and had a fairly friendly expression.

"Chouya, this is Harashi. He moves over water very quickly and he will be chasing you for the coming days. Everytime he catches up to you he will give you a light bite to indicate how many times he managed to catch you." At that point Chouya marvelled at Sasuke 's ability to say all that with a straight face.

She met the snake's eyes, it seemed as reluctant to partake in this exercise as she was making her wonder how her sensei had convinced the summoned beast to it.

"You will both do your respective exercises until I come back. I'll be staying with Mako to keep him safe. I'm pretty certain that you'll hear if you're needed. Any questions?" He regretted asking that when Konki threw up her hand. He should've known.

"What's Kame-kun doing?" While her concern for the fragile boy was admirable it could be annoying at times. He thought it kept her too unfocused.

"He setting up traps in the forest and warning systems on the main road, our dear hosts forbid him from placing traps there so now our adversaries can just walk right to us without hindrance." Chouya, Konki and even Harashi had to struggle to keep themselves from giggling as annoyance escaped Sasuke's controlled voice.

However, Konki wasn't completely happy with the answer. "Still, should he really be doing that with his injuries?"

The voice that came out of Sasuk at that point was unusually harsh. "Those injuries are the only thing that stops him from joining you in training. I figured it be good to put him to good use at the very least. Besides, he says that putting up traps and whatnot soothes him. Now stop asking questions and focus on your training." With that final word said Sasuke turned around sharply and left the three to their training and chasing.

"_If we're lucky there won't even be a need for them to use their training in combat. Then again, when have any team I've ever been a part of been lucky._" It was at times like this that Sasuke hated being a realist.

* * *

Now most people would tell you that a violent battle between teammates would be bad for team morale. Teamwork would suffer and any team would essentially fall a part if the two didn't reconcile immediately.

Apparently most people would be wrong because team six was as strong as ever before. That of course meant nothing since together they were less of a team and more of a trio of strong but contrasting personalities that would self-destruct on a regular basis when said personalities crashed into each other.

Anyway, ever since their confrontation a week or so ago Mikomi and Kihano seemed to have opted to not acknowledge each other's existence. This had led to the two not talking, aka insulting each other which in turn led to them not fighting physically which resulted in nothing being broken on their missions and thus they would actually get paid the full price. However, this new 'understanding' between the two created an incredibly hostile environment that intimidated their clients. So their reputation didn't exactly improve with their new status quo.

This ever declining reputation is what Lee was worried Naruto would bring up every time they met up with him and the council. So far they had been lucky and the subject had yet to be brought up. But Lee could see the malevolence for his team in the eyes of the council, they didn't even have the courtesy to try to hide. If his students noticed it they did a good job of hiding that knowledge.

Naruto on the other hand seemed to rather enjoy it when team six would show up to receive missions. For some reason Lee felt that it wasn't as good a sign as it should be.

"Welcome team chao… I mean team six." Naruto said while trying not to snigger.

Yep, definitely not a good sign.

"Believe it or not gang but I've got a special mission for you guys right here." The Hokage said good-naturedly.

Mikomi brightened with hope and anticipation. "A C-ranked mission?" She blurted out before being able to stop herself.

"Hell n… I mean, sorry but no." An awkward silence settled in the room as Mikomi openly glared at Naruto.

"Now, it's still a D-mission but if you succeed it will pay as much as a B-mission." Naruto said encouragingly. If it did heighten their spirits or not he did not know. But at least it seemed to have caught their attention.

"Why is that Hokage-sama?" Koudanshi asked cautiously.

"_Because the client is an idiot._" Naruto thought but said out loud. "The client insisted on it, thinking that we'll do a better job than with the regular pay."

"So you're playing them a dirty trick on this client by sending out the most pathetic group of all time to handle this well-paying mission. Damn, you're weird." Lee quickly covered Kihano's mouth before he could really get them in trouble.

"Hehheheh, so what kind of a mission is it Hokage-sama." Konoha's azure beast tried to sound serious but it was rather difficult when he was holding back an all too out-spoken twelve year old.

"Nothing bad really," Lee did not like the mischievous yet evil glint in his leader's eyes. "You just have to take care of and entertain a person for a full week and then bring him home to his village." His tone was cheerful and friendly but it still gave Lee shivers down his spine.

"Bring him out." Naruto shouted and some guards came in with an eight year old boy. He had fairly ordinary appearance. Well-trimmed brown hair, grey eyes, a round face and small body. He was wearing a dark green top with long sleeves, dirt grey pants and a round pendant with an intricate symbol of circles, triangles and stars. His expression showed an individual bored out of his mind.

"This is Amaeru Oumu. You will be his playmates for the coming week and then you'll take him home to his village a day's walk away from here. That's all." Naruto said with a smile.

Team six and Oumu eyed each other suspiciously before Koudanshi decided to break the ice.

"Greetings Oumu-san," He began as he walked up to the boy. "My name is Roiyaru Koudanshi and it is a pleasure to meet you." He stretched out a hand of friendship. Oumu was unimpressed.

"Don't try to touch me peasant." Koudanshi stopped moving in nervous shock and couldn't help but stare at the boy in front of him. "What are you staring at you freaking commoner? I command you to stop right this instant!"

The blue haired genius looked at his team and then at the Hokage and back at his team in desperation. Naruto chuckled a little and decided to stop torturing the poor boy. "Oumu here is the son of our daimyo's cousin and a successful author. In short, he's rich and wants to be treated with respect."

Mikomi had a different view of it all. "_Translation, he's a spoiled brat._" She glared at their latest client, but not so he noticed. She was smart enough not to piss him of.

Kihano was not that smart. "HAH! Awesome, finally a brat that knows the ropes. Nice to meet you twerp!" Oumu stared at Kihano, bewildered that the boy was talking to him in this way while approaching him. Bewilderment was replaced by furiousness when Kihano gave him a hard slap on the back.

"You dare to touch me like this! Don't tell me you're as retarded as you look!" He screeched and Mikomi sniggered.

Not being the passive being that Koudanshi is Kihano's eye-twich indicated retaliation. "You should talk you tiny little creep. At least I don't sound like girl when I talk!"

For a moment Oumu looked as if his entire world was collapsing, a look that Kihano took great pride in causing. Then the rich child's face contorted in pure anger, which was followed by an ear-piercing scream.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

While the scream was bringing everyone closer to deafness each second it went Naruto sprinted toward and punched Kihano in the face, sending the obnoxious bastard rolling. It stopped the screaming instantly.

"Why was I punched?" Kihano asked bitterly.

"He's used to people being punished if they offend him and the mission is to keep him happy and entertained. Upset him, and you need to pay the price." Naruto informed.

"You mean that I have to be punched every time I insult him?" Kihano asked and Naruto nodded. Mikomi smirked evilly at this information.

"With that said, go out and entertain our guest." Naruto said in a rushing voice and had some guards more or less shove all of them out the door.

"_Sorry Lee, but the other teams have more important things to do. Besides, it's an easy task and completing it should actually raise your team's reputation somewhat. And they should manage it just fine. I mean they have been improving this last week, I think._" With that we leave the Hokage to his increasingly nervous and guilty thoughts and team six to a most annoying and a little embarrassing mission.

* * *

Kinomi was slightly startled when the kitchen door slammed open so suddenly but when she saw that it was just Konki she relaxed, somewhat. Nodding to acknowledge the gennin she plucked out a container of lemonade ad handed it over to the blonde who poured it all down instantly. Breathing fire dries your mouth out rather fast if you're not used to it.

"Thank you Kinomi-san. Sorry for drinking all your lemonade. It's really good though." The blonde said cheerfully.

Kinomi's response was, as usual, fairly cold but polite. "Thank you." She returned to what she had been doing earlier, chopping carrots. Konki ignored her tone of voice and continued the small talk.

"I'm just saying that your child will love it." Kinomi slipped and almost cut of a finger.

"How did you know?" Kinomi asked with a nervous voice.

"What, that you're pregnant?" Kinomi nodded. "Easy. You're a little bit rounder than on the various pictures around here, you keep rubbing your stomach in kind of motherly way and you eat food that won't upset your stomach." Kinomi stared at Konki with a surprised expression. The blonde smirked and rubbed the back of her head. "I've seen my mom and my best friend's mom while they were pregnant and I picked up on a few general signs. That and I checked you out with my byakugan." She finished while pointing at her eyes.

"Still, based on what you just said I'd say that you have pretty impressive observational skills." Hogosha, Kinomi's husband, said from the kitchen doorway.

Konki felt that for being a vegetable farmer Hogosha had a rather grand stature, it reminded the blonde of her beloved Koudanshi. The man had dark hair that was neatly combed back. He had bright brown eyes and was dressed in a grey shirt and beige pants. Unlike his wife he had been rather warm and hospital to their guests. Despite this he hadn't talked much to them as he remained by his wife's side to make sure that she was ok. Konki liked him.

"Thank you Hogosha-san but it's really nothing. I just have a gift for remembering lots of details. I think I developed it to cope with my schoolwork." She answered modestly.

"Please don't tell my father." Kinomi said suddenly yet silently.

Konki raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Ok… why not?"

"Because I want it to be a new beginning for us. When this is all over and he moves in we will hopefully be free from the shinobi world and live a life of peace. That's what I want the baby to represent and why I don't want him to know about it."

Besides thinking that Kinomi had a flair for the dramatic the little speech made Konki decide to just ask her the question that had been lingering in her mind over the last week.

"You really hate us don't you? Ninjas that is." Kinomi stared at the young girl with apprehension. At first it didn't look like she was going to answer but then Hogosha walked up to her, placed a hand on her shoulder and smiled reassuringly.

The silver haired woman took a deep breath before speaking. "No, I don't hate you. I fear you and what your world does to people." The blonde raised an eyebrow but said nothing. "Take this situation for instance. Already seven people have died during your mission, three of which were probably no older than you and your friends. My father, who is a kind man despite the mistakes he's made, is targeted for death by a boy who was more or less sold into slavery at a young age." A few tears dripped from her eyes. "You're team heading for a collision with three other children and you're going to fight to the death. What good can come of that?"

Truthfully Konki didn't have any answer for that question.

"I don't hate your kind. But I've seen the amount of violence and early deaths that your life brings and I just don't think that I can deal with that in my family." It was a reasonable and to be honest Konki kind of agreed with her.

"That's the reason for my dream." The couple stared at her with confused looks. "One of my dreams is to become the Hokage, the leader of my village. From that position I want to dp my best to change the ninja world into a more peaceful way of life." Kinomi stared directly at Konki who just gave her a broad smile.

"You're right that my world brings a horrible amount of tragedies to us all. I want to change that. I want to create peace treaties that span the entire world. I want to see the ninja arts be used for construction work instead of assassinations and the like. Most of all I want to stop the suffering of people like you two that get caught up in conflicts like this one. In short, I want to save the world. That's why I want to become Hokage." She smiled brightly at the couple who thought she seemed to glow with hope.

"Of course," The gennin said with a more playful voice. "I know that I can't do that on my own or maybe even in my lifetime. But I'm going to work my ass of to reach them as much as possible. That's my ninja way."

A chuckle escaped Kinomi's lips and she looked more relaxed than ever before during the week. "You're different. Compared to other ninjas that is." She said with a smile.

"Thanks, but I'm not really that much different than my peers. I just have big dreams."

"Still, it's not often you hear about a ninja who wants to bring peace to the entire world." Hogosha said with a smile.

Konki quickly answered, happy to have opened up a proper conversation. "There's more of us than you'd think. My dad would prefer it if we all kept the fighting to a minimum. Not that we don't enjoy a good battle, and while we don't like sometimes you have to punch a person to make them stop what they're doing. But at the end of the day we prefer if things can solved before that punch is thrown. Same with my mom." Her fast paced voice and breathless speech made the couple's eyes widen in astonishment.

Hogosha was the first to recover. "Well, at least you guys get to live an exciting life. I mean, going on trips to different countries, being at vocal points in military history and all that."

Konki blushed a little. "Well I haven't done all that yet. But yeah, life is kind of exciting in this profession. But honestly I wouldn't mind just settling down like you two have done here. A nice, calm life with the one you love. And seriously, you two have a lovely house."

Kinomi nodded a little and smile serenely. "Thank you. We worked hard to make this house into something we both wanted and at the same time would fit a big family and be manageable. It's our greatest accomplishment." The pride in her voice made all three present in the room smile.

Hogosha put his hand softly on Kinomi's belly. "Our greatest accomplishment so far you mean." He teased and she nodded.

Konki was about to ask when the baby would be born when the sound of several bells could be heard outside the house. "What's that?" The blonde asked cautiously as she looked out a kitchen window. When she didn't get an answer she turned around and saw that the two of them had extremely worried expressions on their faces.

Hogosha eventually answered. "Your friend, the stuttering one, put up a system that would warn us in case anybody got close to the house. He said that a lot of bells would ring."

Konki swallowed hard. "Maybe it's just friends of yours that have come to visit." She said in attempt to calm them down.

They shook their heads. "We haven't told most of our friends we're here yet and the people in the closest town think that we're too weird to hang out with." Hogosha said with a tone that seemed to be laughing as it realised the inevitable disaster that was coming.

"Brilliant." Konki said with more snark than she intended. "Where's Sasuke-sensei and Mako-san?"

"I made them go out to get some fire wood since I was washing clothes." Konki's eyes widened in disbelief, everything that could go wrong seemed to be happening right now.

"Damnit. Give me a moment." She focused and activated her byakugan. She did it mostly to do a cautionary check of the perimeters. However, she never got the chance to do it properly since the first thing she noticed was Same calmly walking on the grounds until he was in direct line with the kitchen window, which Konki was foolishly standing in front of quite visibly.

She stared at the large boy who just smirked menacingly at pointed his trident at the window.

"Get down now." The blonde told Kinomi and Hogosha. Luckily they reacted fast enough and weren't damaged by the jet streams of water that demolished their window and made a mess of their kitchen.

"Hey! White eyes!" Same shouted. "You have ten seconds to come out here before I go in there and start murdering people for fun!" With that he started counting.

Konki stared at the couple for two seconds before putting on her game face. "Find a safe spot. I won't let him damage the house anymore. I promise." She pulled out a soldier pill and popped it into her mouth as she moved as fast as she could and jumped out of the broken window to face the older missing-nin.

"Look at that, I only got to three." He taunted. Konki still had her byakugan activated and saw Chouya on the far side of the lake along with another person, most likely Oru. The other members of her team seemed to be out of her eye's reach.

"_Ok, we only saw three of them but there might be more so I can't count on Sasuke-sensei to help any of us. And I can't count on getting help myself. In short, we're all alone. And I have to make sure that the house and our dear hosts aren't injured._"

"How about we move this battle somewhere more fitting?" She asked hopefully.

"No." Same answered without thinking. "I like to see my prey sweat and I'm betting that there's at least one person inside that house that you want to protect. The danger of them getting caught up in the fight scares you and that heightens the pleasure for me. Now less talk and more action."

He once again pointed the trident at the house as orbs of chakra began to form at each tip. "Suiton…" He stopped himself to dodge a shuriken Konki had thrown at his head.

She kept tossing shurikens as well as kunais at the missing-nin in order to distract him while at the same time running towards him.

The missing-nin was being forced away from the house. Not accustomed to being on the defensive Same suddenly halted and rushed towards Konki. He didn't even bother to dodge a shuriken that lodged itself into his shoulder. He just ignored and tried to spear a shocked Konki on his trident.

Instincts made her jump to the side just in time to only have a piece of her jacket torn of by the sharp weapon. After sliding to a stop the Hokage's daughter stared as her opponent casually pulled the shuriken out of his shoulder and tossed it away. Her stunned face amused the missing-nin.

"What? Don't tell me that me ignoring your little toys is such a shocker. Because if it is I don't think that you're going to last very long." Konki lowered her head as she tried to ignore his taunting voice. She cautiously did what came the most naturally to her and went into a juken stance. "So, now you're ready to do this close and personal. Fine by me." She found it terrifying that such a malicious voice could also contain so much confidence.

"_Whatever happens to me I've got to make sure that he can't get to Kinomi-san and Hogosha-san._" She stared at Same with eyes of steely determination. "This is as far as you go big boy." The blonde's voice did not shown any sign of the fear she felt. Her father would've been proud. She rushed at Same. A single thought drifted through her mind before she focused completely on the battle.

"_Please, let everybody be ok._"

* * *

He had heard the bells he put up and started running back to the house. Kame didn't know what he was supposed to do once he got there. He just knew that he tad to be there, that he had to talk to Yaiba, that he had to… stop abruptly to not get his head sliced in half by a shuriken zipping by.

Frozen from his shock the trapmaster just watched the metal throwing star that had imbedded itself into a tree right next to him. And just like that he could suddenly feel his presence close by, about two to three meters left of him to be precise.

"I've figured out the reason why I didn't recognise you at first." Yaiba said unceremoniously as he leaned on a tree. "It's because you weren't wearing that stupid smile on your face. You know, the one you always had when we met. What's your excuse?"

Kame forced himself to turn his head and at least look in Yaiba's general direction. "T-too m-ma-many ta-tattoos."

Yaiba looked over himself. "Yeah, I guess that it's a bit of a change. But then again, it's been about six years since the last time we met." He pushed himself of the three and walked closer to Kame, who was beginning to shiver but still managed to turn his body in Yaiba's direction.

Once they were right in front of each other they stayed silent for a minute or so.

"We need to talk." Yaiba stated coolly,

Kame nodded. "Ye-yeah."

Silence.

"So," Yaiba began, scratching the back of his head. "How are your parents doing?"

* * *

**Author's note**: Hm, summer did not help my writing speed as I had hoped it would. Anyway, the coming chapters will pretty much adhere to the theme 'It's fighting time, fighting time, blood blood blood'.

And team six will be absent until the fights are settled, just so you know.

Now that you've done the first half of R&R please do the second half and review, that includes you Anton.


	7. One hit victory

**A.N**: Lets see now. It goes essay - write a little - essay + volountering at a film festival + write even less + a final essay. And then write loads during christmas. That's the work process behind this chapter.

Anyway, here it is now. The first of team seven's fights against Hanmyou's band of missing-nins. I hope you enjoy it.

**7. One hit victory**

From the moment they met, Chouya was certain that Harashi was a kindred spirit in terms of relaxation. She was not disappointed. While they did train hard most of the day neither of them objected to laying back by an apple tree at edge of a large open space they had discovered on the other side of the lake.

It was at this tree the duo was taking an afternoon nap when the alarm went off. It made Chouya tilt her head slightly.

"Oh dear." She muttered passively before turning to the summoned serpent. "You wouldn't happen to be a proficient in combat would you?" The snake lazily shook its head making the short kunoichi sigh. "Then you better go back to your place early." Harashi nodded in agreement and disappeared in the customary puff of smoke.

Still a bit stiff from her nap Chouya got up slowly and stretched for a few moments. "Alright, time to kick some ass." She turned around to face Oru sneaking up behind her. "Starting with your's." She teased as the shocked Oru jumped back.

The purple haired girl eyed her opponent suspiciously. "How did you know I was there?"

Chouya shrugged. "I'm better at hearing people sneak than you are at sneaking I guess." Oru pouted in return, she did not like the simpleness of the explanation.

"Whatever!" She shouted, pulled out a scroll from her back and unfolded it. "The alarm has gone of, I think that's Same's fault he's always been a reckless boy. Anyway, my friends will be killing your friends right about now. I can't be any worse." She touched the mark on the scroll and produced a large sledgehammer into her eager hands.

The handle was a dull grey and almost as tall as Oru herself. The head was similarly inflated, it was bigger than a human head and black as the starless night sky. Despite the largeness of the tool Oru seemed quite capable of lifting it with no exertion. It made Chouya cook an eyebrow suspiciously.

"Allow me to introduce you to Assatsu." Oru stated confidently, while seemingly posing with her weapon as if to model for a camera. "I call it by that name because that is what always happens to my opponents when I use it. One strike with this bad boy and the only thing left of you will be red slush. What do you have to say to that?"

"Nothing really, it's not that impressive. But then again, empty boasting rarely is." The short girl almost yawned with disinterest.

Realising words would be pointless with this opponent Oru sprung forward and slammed the hammer down at Chouya. The brown haired girl quickly side-stepped, thinking that nothing special would happen. But at the time of impact the ground not only cracked, it practically exploded. A small crater was created as dust and small rocks were kicked up in the air. The resulting shockwave caught the leaf kunoichi of balance and knocked her to the ground.

Not wasting any time Oru lifted the hammer again and swung sideways, aiming to take of Chouya's head. It seemed like she would succeed when Chouya moved away surprisingly fast. It wasn't blurring speed or anything, but it was more than enough to avoid Oru's attack.

The leaf gennin halted herself a few meters away from her violet haired foe. A bit perplexed at her swiftness. "_Note to self: Remember to thank Sasuke-sensei for the speed training. Also, don't get hit by that hammer._" She thought before concentrating. In an instant her arms became more muscular and she sprinted towards her opponent who did the same.

Once again Oru slammed her hammer to the ground, hoping to crush Chouya. But the brown haired girl quickly veered to right. Not only did she avoid the attack but now she was prepared for the effects of it as well and ignored the shockwave. After dodging the attack, the short girl countered by dashing towards her opponent and throwing a punch at her midsection.

Oru avoided the attack entirely by vaulting into the air and landing a good distance away. To do this however she had let go of her hammer which was now lying on the ground. Chouya was about to pick it up when she noticed a metal string tied to the back end of it. A moment later Oru pulled the hammer back to her hands with surprising ease.

Oru smirked at Chouya's confused expression. "I got the string-idea from your annoying little teammate. I think it works really well." She said jovially.

"Uh huh." Chouya answered distantly as she stared blankly at Oru's hammer. Thinking that her opponent was distracted the missing-nin once again sprung forward and swung her hammer sideways, aiming for Chouya's mid section.

The short gennin surprised her opponent by jumping above the hammer's head and forward at the same time. Chouya threw a straight punch at Oru who quickly swayed her entire body to the left, avoiding Chouya entirely.

As the brown-haired girl landed she quickly turned around and faced her opponent, who was preparing to swing her hammer. But Chouya was faster and quickly grabbed Oru's right arm, stopping the swinging motion dead cold. She followed it up by pulling Oru towards her, shifted her weight appropriately and threw the missing-nin over her shoulder, along with the hammer.

Oru managed to land on her legs but was somewhat wobbly from the experience. She barely managed to back up just enough to avoid a rushing left hook from Chouya. The brown-haired girl followed it up with a straight punch aimed at the missing-nin's midriff. The punch connected, only for the hammer-wielding girl to transform into a log that was broken in half by Chouya's punch.

Chouya sharply turned around and saw Oru a few meters away, panting slightly but still standing strong.

"You're tougher than last time." Oru said with a wide grin.

Chouya tilted her head to the side. "Well, last time you fought me after I had received a beating from you're much stronger teammate, and as you've probably noticed I've improved my speed. But that's not really the interesting thing about this fight now is it?"

Oru noticed a hint of glee coming from her opponent and raised her eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

Chouya smirked friendly. "Your hammer can easily kill me with one hit, but with my enhanced strength I can pretty much knock you out with one good punch. Get what I mean?"

The way Oru's eyes opened up indicated that she did get it. "No matter who wins this fight…" She began.

"It will be finished in one hit." Chouya finished.

The two instantly shifted into battle stances.

"An interesting challenge my dear adversary. One that I will gladly accept." Oru said with a formal voice as she tightened her grip on her hammer.

Chouya chuckled. "You know, I think I kind of like you. It's a shame that I have to beat you up like this."

Oru smiled warmly. "Yeah."

With that the two rushed at each other.

* * *

When the warning bell indicating that hostile ninjas have approached your temporary HQ the last thing you want to do is to drag a geriatric man through the woods. Sasuke hoped that Mako understood this and excused the rough handling he was getting from the jounin as he carried the decoder bridal style through the woods at breakneck speed.

"AAAAHHHHH!" He also hoped that the decoder would stop screaming soon.

"Please be quiet Mako-san." The jounin growled with a strained voice. "You're alerting the enemy to our position." It was a plausible excuse.

"I'MSORRYI'MNOTUSEDHIGHSPEEDSAND I'M FRAIL AND you stopped…" Mako realised after a few seconds of no motion. "Why did you…" The decoder stopped talking when he saw the hulking man in front of them.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he examined the red clad man for top to toe as he slowly reached for his kusanagi sword, which he had brought along just in case. Hanmyou just looked straight ahead, as much as he could with the headband covering his eyes.

The wind blowing was the only sound made in the forest as the two men sized each other up. While not an expert Mako could feel it in the air. Both of these men were ninjas of exceptional skill. This would be a high calibre battle.

At last one of the men spoke. "Uchiha Sasuke." Hanmyou said with a kind of bitter voice.

The jounin raised an eyebrow. "Well, it's nice that I don't have to introduce myself but you don't have the same fortune. Would you mind sharing your name with us big guy?" Mako thought that Sasuke could've skipped the condescending tone.

Surprisingly though, the large man in front of them chuckled lightly.

"While I knew that you did not know my name I had hoped that you would at the very least recognise my presence Sasuke-sama." His voice was oddly soft.

"I've never seen you before in my entire life." The sharingan master stated simply.

Hanmyou sighed. "That is disappointing, but I guess that it can't be helped. Just know that I am deeply sorry for what I am about to do."

The two ninjas tensed, preparing themselves for battle when Hanmyou suddenly spoke up to the decoder. "You might want to step back old man. This will get messy." Both the jounin and the decoder were caught off guard by this odd display of concern.

Sasuke decided to just ask the obvious question. "Isn't your mission to kill Mako or are you somebody entirely new just here to kill me?"

"No, my official mission is indeed to end the old man's life. But I couldn't care less about it and it's really Yaiba that should get a chance at him. Me, I'm mainly here for you Uchiha Sasuke." His voice was calm but still held bitterness in it.

Sasuke glanced back at Mako. "Do as he said and step back. Try to find a place to hide and don't come out until this is over." There was finality in the jounin's voice that Mako couldn't argue against so he backed away. Not a word was said until the decoder was out of sight.

"You still haven't told me your name." The jounin said as he slowly pulled out the sword strapped to his back.

"It's Hanmyou, and once again I am truly sorry for I am about to do to the man that saved my life."

The random piece of information caught Sasuke off guard and gave Hanmyou an opening to begin the battle. The large man threw a fast straight punch that was millimetres from Sasuke's face before he reacted and jumped back just in time to avoid it.

The jounin attached his feet to the side of a tree and used it as a springboard to launch himself at his opponent. When he came within range Sasuke slashed at the missing-nin's face. To his surprise the large man agilely ducked to the side, avoiding the attack completely.

As Sasuke landed he swiftly picked up three shuriken while turning around to face his opponent. He charged them with electric chakra and tossed them, aiming for Hanmyou's gut, left shoulder and right knee. But once again the missning-nin demonstrated swiftness and agility that didn't fit his size by expertly dodging the shuriken as they were inches from there targets.

The jounin narrowed his eyes. "Let me guess," He said with an analytical tone. "You're blind and have honed your other senses to perfection which is how you're avoiding my attacks despite being blindfolded. And this is probably how you found us. Am I right?"

"I've also sharpened them with chakra." Hanmyou added. "Otherwise you are correct. Once we were told the general direction these people live it was a lucky guess that you would hide within this forest. Then it was only a matter of time." The missing-nin smirked reverently. "Such a quick analytical ability," Hanmyou said with an impressed voice. "I would expect nothing less from my savior."

Sasuke growled as he took a defensive stance. There was something about being called savior that just sounded creepy to him. But those thoughts were for another time. He needed to end this quickly, and without wasting too much chakra. His eyes shifted from onyx colored to red with three tomoes around the pupil as he activated his blood inherited ability. Now he was ready.

Hanmyou charged at his opponent and attacked with a volley of strong punches as Sasuke countered with quick sword slashes. It was actually quite an amazing display of close combat skills as Hanmyou's sharpened senses allowed him to predict Sasuke's movements almost as well as the sharingan did for Sasuke. They dodged and attacked each other simultaneously while still keeping the distance between them to arms length at most.

The advantage however belonged to Sasuke due to him being the faster and smaller of the two. He weaved in and out of Hanmyou's attacks with millimetre precision while looking for any discernable styles of combat. At the same time he slashed calmly an accurately with his sword. However, despite Sasuke's advantage in speed he was unable to inflict any more damage than giving his opponents clothing small cuts. This alone was evidence of Hanmyou's sharpened senses.

The large man could clearly hear Sasuke move through the air, registering every step and turn and attack. Thusly he could prepare for each of them mentally. Every time Sasuke's sword would come near him, Hanmyou could feel it the moment it pressed against his clothes and pull away just in time to avoid any real damage. While it looked easy Hanmyou really had to stay on his toes because of the jounin's edge in speed.

Sasuke thrust his sword forward with the intention of piercing Hanmyou's face. The large man dodged to the left just in time and reached out with his left hand to grabbed Sasuke's outstretched arm. The jounin quickly pulled his arm back and shifted his stance before slashing sideways at his blind opponent's waist. Hanmyou pulled back just as the sword cut his clothing. He then quickly countered with a double-fisted smash that Sasuke avoided by briskly backing away.

"_This is taking too long_." Sasuke growled in his head.

Since he didn't want to leave his students hanging dry like last time Sasuke decided to finish the fight then and there. He jump back a short distance and charged his sword with lightning chakra. Then he burst forward with the intention of cutting Hanymou's head clean off by extending the lightning chakra as he dodged.

It was at that point that Sasuke thought he saw something move underneath the cuts he had inflicted, but he didn't let it distract him.

As he was close enough the sharingan master swung his sword sideways. At the same time Hanmyou lashed out with an open palm strike that was surprisingly fast and had a taint of purple energy. It was fast enough to catch Sasuke's arm in mid-swing and strong enough to send the jounin flying backwards through the forest foliage before coming to sliding stop.

"_What the hell was that?_" He thought as he stood up, still shaking from the attack. "_His speed and power became totally different from what it was before._"

"This battle's over." He heard Hanmyou say and looked up to see the missing-nin slowly walk towards him. "Well, actually it won't be over for a few more minutes. But the outcome won't change. I've won."

Sasuke sneered. "Aren't you being a little cocky there? We've just started and while I was surprised by your last attack don't think it'll work twice."

Hanmyou cocked his head to the left. "So you haven't noticed it yet." Sasuke raised an eyebrow in confusion. "You will, soon enough."

Not caring what he was talking about Sasuke jumped into the sky, flipped above Hanmyou and landed behind him with the intention to pierce his heart from behind. While he was doing this his sharingan showed him that Hanmyou intended to spin around and do a fisted backhand as a counter. Sasuke wasn't worried, he was certain that he was fast enough to finish his attack before Hanmyou's fist connected.

However, when he was about to land something felt wrong for the sharingan master. It felt like he was moving slower than he wanted to, like he needed to strain himself more than usual. When he did land and was about to attack he saw that Hanmyou's fist was closer than he expected. He tried to move jump back but he just couldn't seem to make it. So he was struck on the side of his face and sent crashing through the forest again.

The jounin groaned in pain as he tried to stop his head from spinning. His right hand fumbled a bit before picking up his kusanagi sword as the jounin stumbled back onto his feet. He felt oddly heavy.

"I take it that you are beginning to notice what I've done t you." Hanmyou calmly stated while observing the now sweating jounin.

Sasuke looked down on the arm that had been struck before. A mark of _three separate lines growing into each other forming a spiral_ shimmered with a purple light. The sharingan master frowned at his opponent as he addressed him. "A gravity seal." It was a statement, not a question.

"Yes, your weight is steadily increasing. Soon enough you won't be able to even move, it is at that time that I will take you down before capturing you." The large man sighed. "Again, I am sorry for this. If it was not essential to further my goals I would gladly have let you go. Alas, such is not the case." In the blink of an eye Hanmyou was in front of Sasuke and punched him straight in the chest.

It was like meeting Rock Lee for the first time all over again. He could see the attack with the sharingan, but he couldn't move fast enough to do anything about it.

It is commendable that as he was sent further into the forest Sasuke's thoughts focused on apologising to his students for not being able to help them right now.

* * *

Dust filled the air as Oru's eyes shifted back and forth trying to locate her surprisingly elusive prey.

She registered movement coming from behind her and quickly spun around while swinging her hammer. Chouya dodged under the blow and threw an uppercut at her violet-haired adversary who jumped straight up into the air. As she came falling down again Oru smashed with her hammer at Chouya, who jumped back.

Assatsu struck the ground, creating another small crater and kicking up more dust. This time however Oru had a good idea where Chouya was and ran after her. As she closed in n the leaf-nin their eyes met for a moment before Oru swung assatsu sideways but missed as Chouya backed away. Determined to not let her short foe escape Oru followed and kept swinging the hammer at impossible speeds.

Chouya raised a displeased eyebrow at this action. As she backed away at an increasingly fast pace she felt that there was something odd about that hammer. So she decided to try out a little theory.

The short kunoichi quickly stepped forward as Oru's hammer was coming in from her right. To Oru's surprise the hammer stopped dead in its tracks. Chouya had moved in front of the hammer's head and was holding onto the long handle with one hand. The purple-haired missing-nin tried to move her weapon but was unable to do anything more than budge it.

On the other hand, when Chouya tugged on the hammer her adversary was pulled along with it. Had she not let go of her weapon at the last moment she would received a devastating strike to the gut. As a precaution she also cut of the steelwire she had attached to assatsu, taking away the possibility of it being used against her.

Oru glared at her opponent who seemed to absentmindedly be weighting the hammer she had just stolen. "This thing is really light. I bet I could swing it around just fine even without enhanced muscles."

Oru growled. "Your point being?"

"Well, I was going to ask you what it's made of but you seem pretty pissed about the situation. So I'll wait until I've knocked you out and tied you up." The way she talked was very diplomatic, which somewhat unnerved Oru. Then the leaf-nin did something totally unexpected. "Here you go." She tossed the hammer back.

Astonished with this course of action Oru almost didn't react in time and was nearly hit by her own weapon as he came flying at her. It landed with a loud thudding noise in front of her but she didn't pick it up. She just stared at it and then at Chouya and back again.

"Why did you do that?" She asked, the disbelief obvious in her voice.

Chouya shrugged. "It'd be less fun if you have the distinct disadvantage of not being able to use your primary weapon."

Oru glared at the brown haired girl. "So it's pity from you too huh."

"Nope." Chouya tilted her head from right to left. "I just want to have as much fun in this fight as possible." She said with a smile.

"You know that you're not a very good ninja then, right?" Oru remarked as she picked up her hammer once again. "If you had finished me right there you could've found time to aid your friends who are surely being killed as we speak."

Once again the leaf-nin surprised the missing-nin. This time by chuckling softly. "I highly doubt that." She said after awhile. "Sasuke-sensei is supposed to be the second most powerful man in our village. I don't know how true that is but he is plenty strong enough to take care of himself. Kame is stronger than most people would give him credit for. If he would only get over himself that is. And Konki…" She chuckled again. "None of you are beating Konki."

"You're taking an awful risk with all that faith. Especially considering how we kicked your asses last time." Oru took a stance.

Chouya smirked deviously in response. "Yeah well, that's what it means to be a team. Sometimes you've just gotta have a little faith. Besides…" She jumped forward with a burst of speed and landed behind Oru. "…things are different now."

A sharp turn later and her fist was embedded in Oru's back, only for Oru to transform into a crumbled log. "_Again with the substitution. She's really good with such a basic technique._" She quickly sidestepped, avoiding a bonecrushing blow from behind.

The short kunoichi spun around, aiming a superstrong punch at Oru's face. It was avoided as Oru tilted her head to the side and jumped back.

"How exactly are things different now?" She questioned her diminutive opponent while swinging assatsu at her head.

Chouya dodged beneath the hammer and sprung forward. "There's the training." She counted as she tried a double-fisted uppercut that Oru leaped away from. Chouya followed. "And with Kame there's the shared history between him and tattoo-boy." At this Oru's body seemingly halted in mid-air and she fell on her ass. Chouya stopped and gazed at the missing-nin with confused eyes. "Was it something I said?"

Oru stumbled onto her feet. "What did you say about Yaiba-kun and your little wuss?"

An eyebrow was raised by the shorter girl. "I mentioned that they had a shared past. Didn't you know that?" She answered the question before Oru did. "Oh right, neither of them remembered each other. That's why Kame had two giant chest wounds and you're running away from me. STOP THAT!" Chouya speed after her oddly behaving opponent.

Chouya tried to tackle Oru with a bear hug but the violet haired girl backflipped over her, forcing Chouya to hold out her hands and use them as polevaults so that she didn't hit the ground falling. A quick flip later and the two were once again facing each other.

"Don't you think that was kind of rude?" Chouya asked with the voice a parent would use to scold a child.

Oru was unaffected by it. "Get out of my way right now!" Ok, obviously something was affecting her, but it wasn't Chouya's attitude. On the other hand, Oru's sudden change of tone made the leaf kunoichi tense up noticeably and assume a cautious and defensive pose.

"What's your problem? Seriously, was it something I said?" Chouya mentally cursed for adding the second part. Oru growled in response.

"You standing in my way is my problem." At first it looked like she was about to attack once again, but she suddenly mellowed down. "Look, it's not good for Yaiba-kun to have his past brought up. It's a very sore subject for him."

The short girl raised an eyebrow. As she spoke an uncharacteristic frustration made itself heard. "Are you kidding me? You're throwing a hissy-fit because you don't want him to feel bad? That's the lamest thing I've heard."

Oru's face twisted into a scowl. "Well excuse me for caring about my teammates. I shouldn't expect someone like you to understand." She was dead serious about this.

"_Shouldn't our lines be reversed or something?_" Chouya thought as her frustration melted away. "I just believe in letting people sort out their own problems." She defended and shrugged.

"Well, I don't. Yaiba-kun needs me. He could be in serious emotional pain right now and if I'm not there to offer him my shoulder then he'll think I've abandoned him and he won't want to speak with me anymore and..." A tiny rock hit her forehead. "Did you just throw a rock at me."

"You were blabbering." Chouya deadpanned. "And while I think that you're going way overboard with the protective girlfriend thing I can respect your attitude."

Oru practically shined with hope. "So you'll let me pass?"

"Hell no." Chouya said flatly, crushing Oru's hopes. "It's still my job to stop you right here and now and well that's what I'm going to do. I do assure you however that it's not personal."

With a soft-sounding thud Oru put down her hammer, making it stand on its head, before glaring at Chouya with a full-blown killing intent radiating from her. "That's too bad, because I would've liked to finish our little game." Her countenance darkened. "Now I have to end it prematurely." She quickly bit both her thumbs and started a seal chain. She swiftly finished and slammed her hands to the ground, shouting. "Sanju Kuchiyose!"

Chouya swallowed loudly when she saw three bulls standing between her and her initial opponent. The one in the middle was dark red and easily twice the size of a normal bull while the two flanking it were black and had a more common mass for bulls. Not that it made them any less threatening.

Oru, holding her hammer once again, jumped up on the back of the large bull, looking both triumphant and frustratingly insane at the same time. She glared pointedly at Chouya. "Any last wishes?"

Chouya pondered for a moment. "That I could take back the last five minutes."

"Funny." Oru scowled.

Chouya tilted her head to the right as she resumed her defensive pose. "Has anybody ever told you that you have pretty severe mood-swings?"

That was the last drop. With a snap of her fingers Oru jumped off the large summon as it and its two companions stampeded towards Chouya.

Not batting an eye, the short girl with chakra-enhanced arms calmly stood her ground. When the large bull reached she quickly grabbed onto his horns.

Just as quickly she was slammed to the ground as the bull raised its head, picking Chouya off the ground, and then brought it down.

She would've made a smartass comment if she had the time for it. But she didn't as the two other bulls came in from her sides at an unexpectedly fast pace, their horns lowered, ready to skewer her. For a few seconds it even looked like they did.

Their horns pierced her body with a sickening sound and she went shock still, dying with her eyes open. Then she turned into a log that was torn apart by the bulls.

"By the lake side!" Oru shouted. The bulls charged off again without missing a beat. Chouya didn't even have time to catch her breath before she needed to dodge the attacks. She jumped to the side, ending up with all three bulls lined up in front of her.

Ignoring her fatigue Chouya pushed herself towards the summoned bovines, cupped her hands together for a double fisted backhand and… lost all enhancing chakra in her arms just as she struck the closest bull, and the thing had really tough skin.

A resounding pain raced through Chouya's hands and time seemed to slow down. Seconds became minutes and everything moved in slow-motion as the brown-haired girl gritted her teeth to keep herself from screaming. The bull she had hit turned and threw his head at her.

Trusting her instincts, and hoping for some luck, Chouya leaped high into the air, landed on the largest bull's back and jumped out into the lake from there. The bulls didn't follow her.

"_Lucky me._" She thought as she watched Oru angrily yell at her to come back and die properly. "_She probably figured I'd be an easy prey for those things and that she could run for her friend after I was killed. Now she can't cross the lake without fighting me._" She looked down on her arms. "_My stamina still isn't enough for this kind of fight and even if it was I'm not fast enough to take on all three of her summonings at once._"

For a moment she had a pondering expression that eventually was broken by a chuckle. "_Well mom, it looks like I'll have time to put some of your ideas to the test. I just have to make sure I don't pass out this time._"

* * *

He had been in more pain than this many times in his life. The training Orochimaru had put him through for example had often ended up with him in a hospital bed, and he still had a scar from the time when Naruto's wind-powered rasengan obliterated his chidori and punched him through a building.

Yep, both those times, and many more, Sasuke had been in more pain than right now. But neither of them had been as annoying as the beating he was receiving from Hanmyou.

He was barely able to move no matter what he tried and could thus not stop Hanmyou from raining down punches on his person. Of course, it did amuse Sasuke to see Hanmyou's frustration when he refused to be knocked out, but it didn't exactly compensate for the beating.

"While I did expect you to be resilient Sasuke-sama I had no idea that it would take this long for you to go down." He finished the sentence with a roundhouse kick that knocked Sasuke into a bush.

"_Crap. This is embarrassing. Am I really going to taken out by some kind of fanboy who I don't even recognise? If I could just distract him…_" At that moment he felt his hand touching something, something that normally wouldn't be in a forest. Upon a short inspection Sasuke found himself smirking at his find.

Hanmyou approached the leaf-nin caution. Though he was lying seemingly motionless on the ground it was prudent to not just rush at an elite ninja, even if Hanmyou currently had the advantage.

However, his cautious approach amounted to nothing as he noticed a small flicker of a sizzling noise where Sasuke was. An instant later he heard multiple shuriken speeding at him from the left. He avoided them easily enough by jumping back. But just as his feet touched the ground again two large logs, suspended by thick ropes, came swinging at him from his front and back. The blind man barely had any time to block them with his arms, which seemed to have something moving across them once again.

While Hanmyou was fending of the traps, Sasuke had forced himself to jump to his feet. He grunted in pain from his ever-increasing weight.

"_I'll have to thank Kame for those traps._" Sasuke thought as he forced his hands together into a monkey hand seal. Hanmyou rushed at the sharingan user, but it was too late.

"Chidori Engai!" Electricity practically exploded from his body and formed a large dome that basically ripped every part of the forest it touched to shreds. Hanmyou was more resilient than that. He just got electrocuted and has his clothes destroyed.

The large man fell to the ground, twitching spastically. Normally this would've been an opportune moment to finish of an opponent. But Sasuke had to let it go and fix his own affliction as quickly as possible. He didn't know how long Hanmyou would be stunned like this.

With an added push of chakra Sasuke made three leaps through the forest, making small dentures on the ground with each jump, before stopping. He swiped off some of the blood from his mouth with his right thumb, formed the needed seal chain and struck the ground.

"Well, well, well. Look what we have here." The snake said with an amused tone. "Whatever could the great Uchiha Sasuke require my services for I wonder." It was light yellow in color with green stripes starting from the eyes and moving across the back. Unlike the snakes Sasuke usually summoned it was the same size as a normal snake, in this case a large cobra.

Sasuke grunted and quickly showed the snake the gravity seal. "Remove it and do it quickly _Kimura_." The snake weaved its head back and forth in disappointment. "Oh, we're in that mood today. All work and no play. It's been known to make men go crazy you know." Kimura leaned backwards just enough to avoid Sasuke's attempt to grab her.

"Naughty boy. Is that really any way to ask for help?" Kimura chided at Sasuke.

"Look, I don't have time for your stupid games. If you don't remove this thing from me right now six good persons will die." The jounin spoke with a lethal whisper. "And if that happens I will hold you personally responsible." He accentuated his point by staring right into Kimura's eyes with his sharingan. It made the snake shiver with a primal fear.

"Fine, I'll help you." The snake conceded dully. Sasuke displayed the seal once again right in front of Kimura's face. The snake looked up at the ninja. "You were more fun when you hid your concern for others from everyone, including yourself."

Sasuke sighed. "Things were easier back then. But I have new responsibilities now. So get to it." He ordered.

Kimura stared at the seal, reared her head back a little before lashing out and biting into Sasuke's arm.

* * *

Chouya took a deep breath and stood up with a straight back. Closing her eyes loosely, knuckled her fists and lifted her forearms into a horizontal position the short girl ignored Oru's continued shouting and went into a state of concentration.

Chakra coursed through the gennin's body, touching her every muscle and going into a delicate process that could be likened to a massage. The concentration of chakra was so large that Chouya gained a blue tint and the water she stood on rippled continuously.

The turn of events worried Oru, who tensed up and studied her opponent with caution. The three bulls stalked around the waterside, ready to attack at a moment's notice.

What the heir of the Akimichi clan was doing wasn't any different from her usual arm-strengthening technique. It was just on a larger scale. Her entire body to be more specific, and since she wasn't used to use it on that level it required more concentration and time to execute it. It was actually rather soothing for the girl.

Then, suddenly, as the blue tint quickly faded away and the water calmed down, Chouya seemed to grow, ever so slightly, in both length and girth. She was still kind of short, but less so now than before and her newfound height gave her enhanced muscles a more natural look.

As her eyes opened she whispered to herself. "Here we go." She ran across the water at a speed that would most definitely count as blurring speed.

The bulls readied themselves to intercept the kunoichi. But it was in vain as she picked one of the two smaller bulls, ran up to its face and gave it a hard uppercut to the chin. The strength of the blow lifted the bull off of its front legs and exposed its stomach.

Chouya seized the opportunity by placing herself under the bull and lifting it above her head. She noted that there was less of a strain on the rest of her body compared to when she usually lifted something this heavy. As the other two summons moved towards the girl lifting their comrade in the air Chouya leaped into the air, with bull on her back and everything.

It was the highest jump you'd ever see, but it still quite a bit up into the air. Once she started to lose altitude Chouya addressed the bull. "Sorry about this mr. summoned bull." She threw it with all her might to the ground. When the armoured bovine hit the surface a sickening clanging noise was heard.

Oru and the other two bulls observed their unmoving companion as he disappeared in a puff of smoke. They changed their attention to Chouya, who had landed inbetween her three adversaries.

Eyes filled with anger and resentment glared at the leaf gennin as they began to circle her. Oru hefted assatsu into a fighting stance as the two remaining bulls snorted while stomping the ground. Chouya just gave the three a blank gaze in return.

"Touchuu," The large bull glanced at Oru. "Gakou." So did the smaller one. Oru's eyes narrowed as she spoke the next sentence. "Let's kill her."

Gakou was the first to make a move, charging at Chouya from her right. The kunoichi stepped back in the last second and swiftly punched the side of her attacker's face. This knocked Gakou out of balance and sent him to the ground temporarily.

Oru leaped through the air and came down with a wrath filled swing of her hammer aimed at Chouya. The brown haired girl stepped forward and once again caught the powerful hammer by its handle. She quickly pulled Oru in and placed her open left hand on the missing-nin's stomach. As if sensing what was about to happen, Oru let go of assatsu. Less than a second later Chouya forcefully launched Oru into the air by springing her pulled back arm forward.

As his master soared through the sky, Touchuu attempted to pierce Chouya from behind. The heir of the Akimichi clan however tossed the large hammer away and managed to spin around and catch his horns once again. The bull's momentum was at first too much for Chouya and she was pushed back, her feet digging up small trenches. After a few meters she gained enough of a grip to halt the bull, forcing the two into a pushing match. Touchuu tried to fling the gennin into the air again but found that she was able to hold his head still with her very strength alone, although the effort did make her sweat a lot.

It made for a rather odd picture. A short and muscular twelve year old girl engaging in a test of strength against a usually large bull. This is the kind of stuff that goes on in this world.

The two were evenly matched at first but as the seconds ticked away Touchuu seemed to be slowly gaining the advantage. That, however, wasn't Chouya's main problem. The main problem was that Gakou had gotten up again and was coming in from her side. Being locked like she was Chouya only had time to brace herself. She did not do that.

Instead she waited for right moment and almost strained herself by pushing Touchuu away from her, giving her just the time needed to face Gakou, shield her torso and face by putting her arms in an x-formation and relaxing the rest of her body. When the tackle struck Chouya was flung into the air, her body spinning and her arms bleeding.

The two bulls watched contently as she rapidly fell to ground, kicking up clouds of dirt when she crashed. They almost even started sniggering, or whatever it is that bulls do instead of sniggering, but stopped when they saw Chouya get up and give them a look that told them she wasn't close to being done yet. Sure she was dirty, sweating and bleeding from her arms, had a few large bruises and was gasping for air. But the look in her eyes said otherwise.

"_Ok, that hurt. But mom was right. A balanced chakra enhancement over the entire body made me not only stronger, but faster, sturdier and tougher as well. Too bad I've only got a few more minutes left before I wipe myself out. Oh well. Let's do this._" She took control of her breathing with a deep intake of air and then she ran towards Touchuu and Gakou for another confrontation. They did the same with Touchuu being the faster one.

Before the two parties collided Chouya picked up assatsu and then jumped above the bulls and landed behind them before they could turn. She aimed herself at Gakou. "_I hope that I'm right about this. If I'm not then I apologise from the bottom of my heart Gakou-san._" She said in her head as she came close enough to the aforementioned bull and swung assatsu down at Gakou's head.

Her fear was that at the impact Gakou's head would explode into a million tiny pieces of bone and blood. Luckily for her that's not what happened. The blow simply smashed the bull's head into the ground, knocking him out instantly. Before Chouya could survey the damage she had done Gakou disappeared in standard fashion and Touchuu groaned loudly in frustration.

The two wasted no time in rushing at each other for a final showndown.

Once they had closed the distance between them Chouya opened up with a three punch combo to Touchuu's face. Touchuu countered with a relatively light tackle that knocked Chouya to the ground, and then he trampled her. The gennin kicked herself up and shoulder tackled the bull as he was turning around for another go. In return Touchuu shoved her through a nearby tree.

Chouya picked herself up once again. Her breathing was getting heavier by the minute. She realised that she needed to finish this as fast as possible and the only way she could think of doing that at the moment was incredibly risky and kind of stupid. But she couldn't come up with anything else so she jumped away from Touchuu, who had rushed at her once again, and made sure to put a distance of at least 20 meters between them.

For a moment the two just stared at each other. Touchuu could see what it was that Chouya wanted to do, and he was more than up for the challenge. And so, their chicken race began.

As she ran towards a possible death, Chouya focused every last bit of chakra she could spare into her right arm and fist, preparing herself to throw her strongest punch to date. She aimed as much as possible at the middle of the summoned bull's lowered and rapidly approaching head, trying to make sure that she ended up between the giant horns and not on them.

Some people might take the time to reminisce about their loved ones and happy times when they're matched against an unnaturally large bull in a test of strength. Chouya isn't one of those people. She the kind of people that counts the seconds until it's time to act.

"_3 konoha… 2 konoha… 1 konoha and GO!_"

The impact of the two forces colliding caused a small shockwave that flattened the grass they beneath them and made Chouya's hair flow haphazardly, it was kind of beautiful really. Then the outcome effects of the clash settled in.

Chouya was thrown off her feet and fell to the ground while returning to her original form, her right hand and arm hurt like hell as well. Touchuu didn't fair that much better as the blow forced him to stumble back and gave him a large bruise and a clear headache.

Chouya, breathing heavily, used her elbows to sit up and stared at the bull. She smirked playfully. "I win." She declared with a light tone.

Touchuu made confused grunt, certain that he was better off than the kunoichi was at the moment. A fizzling sound from the side of his however made he remember that he was fighting ninja, and ninja always have a trick up their sleeve. The explosive note Chouya had barely managed to place on Touchuu's right horn exploded with the expected ball of fire.

Luckily for the brown haired girl's conscience Touchuu's limp body poofed away before the smoke of the explosion disappeared to reveal his rather serious new injury.

Chouya let herself fall to the ground again, hoping to get some rest. It was when a thin shadow crossed her face that she remembered that she still had one more game to play.

"Impressive," Oru commented sincerely. "I honestly didn't think that you would stand a chance against those three. But I've been wrong before." Chouya noted that the missing-nin had picked up her hammer.

"So, do I have to kill you or are you too exhausted to move right now?" Chouya raised an eyebrow at the inquiry.

"What's it to you?" She asked with a strained voice.

Oru shrugged. "I like you. You're funny, if a bit annoying, and I think that with that impressive display of skill and strength you deserve the option of not dying. I mean, it's not like you're in any condition to fight anyway."

The younger girl rolled her eyes. "My condition is better than it looks. I'm just taking a breather. Besides it's not like you're in any better shape than me." Oru gave her a perplexed look and Chouya answered the unasked question. "I'm guessing that your chakra reserves are kind of low and that the summoning drained you pretty nicely. In short, you're just putting on a brave face right now, which means that it shouldn't take much to take you down."

Oru's eyes widened. "Wow. You really are good. How did you figure that out?"

"I'll tell you if you promise to answer my question first?"

"Sure, sure. Whatever." Oru said eagerly.

"Why do you care for the tattooed guy so much anyway?" Oru's childlike energy faded away to match the seriousness of the question. She suddenly looked as tired as Chouya had pegged her to be.

"It's rather simple actually. The first time we met was when my very abusive father was taking out his frustrations on me because a certain piece of metal had been stolen from the family forge. I'm not sure how far my father would've taken the beating but it would've have been permanent if not for Yaiba-kun." She gazed lovingly into the distance. "He killed my father and saved me. There're more details about it but it's not something I like to go into. The important thing is that from that day on I swore to do everything in my power to save Yaiba-kun from his tormented life. He is a tormented soul and without me there would be nobody that cared for him. I know that he could treat me better. But if I left just because of that, then he would truly be all alone." She looked down at Chouya. "Have I made myself clear?"

Chouya nodded, there was more to the story that she wanted to know. But she decided to let it slide for now.

"Your turn. Tell me how you figured out I have a low chakra reserve." Oru ordered with curious voice.

Chouya sighed and took a deep breath before speeding into an explanation. "It was your weapon of choice that gave it away. While it may be hard as hell it is too light-weighted for a person of your physical strength to create large shockwaves and small craters with it. Then I remembered that I had read somewhere about special metals that can be used to create large effects with minimal amounts of chakra. Weapons made out of this metal would be perfect for ninja with low chakra reserves. I just guessed that this was the case here. Then I tested my hypothesis by slamming the hammer down on of your bulls without infusing it with any chakra. If I had been wrong then the bull's head would've exploded on impact. Instead I just severely wounded it. I also figured that you looked a bit tired after the summoning. But I didn't have any real hard proof until you confirmed it just now." Chouya stared passively at the amazed Oru.

"Wow. You're really smart." Oru exclaimed in amazement.

Chouya smiled. "Yeah, I know." She answered without hesitation. "For example, I'm smart enough to know that you should never give an opponent time to recuperate by engaging in small talk." Oru blinked in confusion and reacted way too slow, a sign that she really was tired.

Chouya rolled onto her side and did a leg sweep, knocking Oru off her feet. As the violet haired missing-nin hit the ground she dropped her hammer. At the same time Chouya kicked herself up.

The short kunoichi was quick to get on her knees and grab a hold of Oru's shoulder, pushing her down. "Even without chakra enhancements, I'm pretty strong." Chouya said with a smirk as Oru tried to push her off.

"Sorry about this." Chouya said and punched Oru squarely in her solar plexus and then rolled away from her. Oru gasped for air and thrashed around a little before finally falling into unconsciousness.

Chouya took several deep breaths before standing up and walking over to the defeated missing-nin. The brown haired girl picked out a long string of steel wire from her pocket and bent down to tie up Oru.

As she bound Oru's hands together, the leaf kunoichi smiled friendly. "That was a fun game. I hope that everything works out for you in the end." As she was about to do the same with Oru's legs an incredibly loud splashing sound that came from the other side of the lake caught her attention.

Chouya looked up and her eyes widened. "Huh, there's something you don't see everyday." She said with an intrigued voice before she returned to her work.

* * *

**34 minutes earlier**

"W-wh-what?" Kame asked, hoping that he had heard wrong.

"Your parents. How are they doing?" Yaiba repeated.

Kame blinked once and twice and three times before he tried to answer the question. "They…eh. I…am…but. W-we…a-are…" It didn't go very well.

Yaiba narrowed his eyes. "Ok. What's wrong with you anyway? You're so different from the last time… You know what, forget I asked that. It's not important. What is important is getting you out of here." His voice was firm and unshakable. It shook Kame out of some of his funk.

For a few seconds the stuttering trap master was silent and it seemed like he was about to just do what Yaiba told him, no questions asked. Then he sighed and stood his ground, with shaking knees and tried to look straight into Yaiba's eyes. He failed and shifted his eyes to a strangely fascinating acorn, but the point is that he tried.

"I c-can't d-do that. S-s-sorry." The tension in the air suddenly became very heavy.

Yaiba darkened. "I don't think that you understood me there Kame. You're going to leave this place and go home, whether you like it or not."

"N-n-no." Though, there was something very tempting about the idea.

The older boy rolled his eyes. "Yeah, that was very convincing." Kame felt himself grow smaller.

Yaiba changed tactics from the direct to the suggestive. "I'm not even sure why you're here. You're obviously not fit for this world." It had a mixed reaction within Kame.

"Just by looking at you I can tell that you're too afraid to be any kind of threat to me." On the one hand he found himself agreeing with everything Yaiba said.

"The situation is something of a crisis and you're a nervous wreck right now. I doubt that you can throw a single shuriken in straight line right now. Going home is the only sane thing for you to do." On the other he was trying to get himself to speak up and tell Yaiba about his parents' death and that he knew what the missing-nin had gone through.

"Besides, I've always thought that you were too soft to be a ninja anyway. I just can't see you doing what is necessary and kill an opponent. In the past it was just because you were too nice. Now it's that and that you're too afraid." Lastly, the tiny part of Odayaka Kame's consciousness that still has any guts left was just getting pissed off.

These three voices struggled for dominancy as Yaiba kept talking; none the wiser to what was going on inside the leaf gennin's head. "So do us both a favour and go home." It might've gone on for a quite a bit longer if Yaiba hadn't ended his speech the way he did.

"Your parents may be disappointed but I'm certain that they'll understand."

A twitch of the eye, knuckles tightened and a silent growl was barely heard. "Shut up!"

Yaiba raised an eyebrow in confusion. Had he misjudged the boy from his childhood?

"They're dead!" The boy screamed, tears rushing down his cheeks. "My parents can't be disappointed, because they're dead!"

An almost mocking wind blew through the forest, chilling the two ever so slightly.

"What did you just say?" Yaiba asked, his face numb with shock.

Kame lowered his head. He had returned to his passive persona. "M-my p-parents were k-k-killed almost f-five ye-years ago. Th-the v-vi-village was attacked and th-they w-were co-cornered in…" It was at this point that Kame noticed that Yaiba wasn't paying him any attention.

"Tora-sama is dead." Yaiba said to no one in particular. "Everybody I know is dead." Kame felt as if there was something increasingly frightening about Yaiba at the moment and tried to steer it in another direction.

"P-please ca-calm d-down Yaiba-kun. I know wh-what ha-has happened to y-you and I c-can re-re-relate to it. Th-that's wh-what I w-wa-wanted to talk about."

Yaiba stared blankly at the younger boy. "You know?"

Kame nodded grimly. "Y-y-yes. And I l-l-like I s-said, I c-can relate. Yo-you f-feel a-abandoned b-by yo-your v-v-village, right?" Yaiba dipped his head affirmatively.

"I h-ha-have the s-same fee-feeling towards my p-pa-parents." The shame in what he said could not be missed. "I know i-it's wrong of m-me t-to f-feel that w-way. But th-that's the w-way i-it is. I'm n-not m-mad at th-the p-persons that k-k-killed them or the Ho-hokage f-for sh-showing up a-after it ha-happened. I'm m-m-mad at my parents f-for dying a-and l-lea-leaving me behind." He coughed a little for drying out his throat. Yaiba just stood there passively.

"I d-don't w-want to think l-like th-that. But I do. W-wh-whenever I th-think about th-them, those f-f-feelings s-su-surface and I c-can't face th-them." He closed his eyes in shame and almost began to cry again when a firm hand placed itself on his right shoulder.

Kame opened his eyes to look into Yaiba's gentle looking face with a comforting smile. "There, there. So you feel abandoned huh? I bet that you think nobody understands you either." Kame nodded weakly in response.

"And you figured that since we're childhood friends that have experienced the same trauma we could talk about it. Help each other out of our respective funks, right?" Yaiba's grip on Kame tightened and the trapmaster felt that answering in any more capacity than nodding would be a mistake.

"It's an almost solid, if naïve, idea. There's just one problem." Yaiba let go of Kame, who felt it safe to talk again.

"Wh-what p-problem is…" He never saw the uppercut coming.

The trapmaster crashed to the ground after a short air-trip. He looked up at the tattooed missing-nin with terror in his eyes, and pain in his jaw.

Yaiba on the other hand look positively murderous as he stalked over to Kame. "You say that know what I've been through. What my life's been like for the past six years. The hell I've experienced." Yaiba picked Kame off the ground by his collar and slammed his back into a tree. "You claim to know this and you still consider your experiences to be of equal measure to mine!"

Kame tried to save the situation. "N-no, I…" A knee to the gut cut him off before Yaiba threw him to the ground.

"It's a disgrace that the only thing left of Kyoumou Tora's warrior legacy is a snivelling coward with delusions of what abandonment and betrayal feels like." Yaiba glared at the boy. "You're pathetic."

The black haired boy was paralysed with shock and fear. "P-p-please, Ya-yaiba-kun. W-we w-were friends." He pleaded, and received a kick in the chest for the trouble.

"Friends?" Yaiba sneered. "I never considered you to be my friend. You were just some annoying little kid whose mother just happened to be the only person I ever looked up to." He stared into the sky, looking sad. "Tora-sama was a brilliant and brutal warrior. But unlike me and the restraints placed on me because of my clan she was free to do whatever she wanted. Even leave the village." He redirected a glare at Kame, who had managed to stand up again, but he didn't know what to say.

"The only reason I came here was to make sure that Tora-sama wouldn't hunt me down for killing you. But with that not being a possibility and you blemishing her reputation… Well, an old bastard won't be the only person I'm killing today."

Kame slowly tried to back away, he was shaking worse than ever before, as the orange haired missing-nin bit his own thumb. Yaiba then stroked the blood over the tattoo on his chest and proceeded to pull out a halberd.

Yaiba began walking over to Kame, who kept inching away.

"Don't worry." Yaiba said with a tone that was anything but comforting. "The sight of you sickens me way too much. So I'll make this quick."

With that, he swung the halberd at Kame.

* * *

Haha! I actually got it out before the year is up. Yeay me. Thank you for reading this chapter, please leave a review for it. Once you've done that you should go and have a happy new year. See ya in 2009.

Morlin


	8. Turning point

**F****inally the first chapter of the year is here. also a very delayed chapter. I could blame school life and stuff like that, but really I was lazy and this was a difficult chapter to write. I had to ditch quite a few ideas because they just didn't work. But I'm happy with the end results.**

**So please enjoy this special chapter of Neo Shinobi and the give me your constructive criticism. **

**8. Turning point**

Before their more recent altercations Kentou Yaiba and Odayaka Kame had fought each other three times.

The first time it happened was when they were small children, not three hours after meeting each other. Kame had managed to goad Yaiba into a sparring match, for fun. The older boy never really attacked. He just tripped and pushed his bullrushing foe to the floor a few times. When the future trapmaster kept coming, despite the obvious difference in skill, Yaiba knocked him down and sat on him until he admitted defeat.

Their second duel took place no less than seven hours later. The Odayaka family was sleeping over so that they wouldn't have to travel at night, and both boys just happened to be out to get a midnight snack. Kame had entered the kitchen first and noticed Yaiba approaching. Not knowing any better, because he was five years old, Kame attacked Yaiba in the dark, by throwing leftover melonpan at him. Since it was dark Yaiba failed to recognise that it was his essentially harmless, but annoying, guest. So he chased the assaulting party around the kitchen and dinner room.

It's noteworthy that Kame actually managed to trip Yaiba, using a wet towel for the act. Making the Kentou heir slip however was a bad idea as it just pissed him off to the point where he caught up with Kame and punched him in the face. The five year old went out like a light and got a bloody nose. Luckily their parents showed up before anything else happened. The two got a stern talking to and apologised to each other.

Eight months passed and the boys had had their respective eight and sixth birthday celebrations by the time they met up again, this time it was Yaiba and his mother that visited Konoha. Yaiba demonstrated and impressed Kame with his skills with a wooden sword. This prompted the Odayaka heir to fetch his mother's wooden sword and challenge Yaiba to a sword duel. Once again the Kentou heir was goaded into accepting the challenge and once again Kame was thoroughly defeated.

Throughout all these encounters the two were never felt any real animosity towards each other. Sure, Yaiba was kind of annoyed with the younger boy and Kame felt a small amount of jealousy towards his senior. But in the end they got along just fine.

Evidently that's changed. The tragic paths their lives have been forced to go has turned Yaiba into a being fuelled by anger and hate, and Kame into a hesitant and frightful shell of a person. As such they look upon each other with disgust and terror respectively as they find themselves locked in combat once again.

Though they may not be aware of it, this encounter is yet another turning point they've been brought to. No matter who wins and who loses, no matter who lives or dies their lives will be changed.

* * *

Kame dropped under the halberd just in the nick of time, he could feel strands of his hair being cut off by the blade.

Undeterred, Yaiba raised the polearm for a downward swing. Kame rolled away from that attack as well and then scurried back on his feet to run away.

Yaiba was quick to pursue. "You actually think running away will save you!?" Fact is that Kame wasn't actually thinking at all. His mind had gone blank and he was basically operating on pure instincts. He just ran as fast as he could and tried not to listen to the threats being thrown at him. But it didn't help, Yaiba was steadily catching up to him.

The thing about instincts however, is that they can give some rather deceiving first impressions. For example, who would guess that Kame running on auto would mix his cowardly nature with the teachings his father had put him through and he had kept himself occupied with the last five years. The former told him to run away and the later told him where to run.

Because of this combination the ever decreasing distance between the two actually proved most useful. When Yaiba was within striking distance and swung his halberd Kame jumped forward, thus he avoided to fall into the rather deep pit he had dug a few days before. Yaiba on the other failed to notice it at all and fell into the trap. He was too surprised to react properly and became even more so when he was entangled in a net that was set up in the middle of the pit. After hitting the bottom of the pit and finding it difficult to liberate himself, he screamed in fury.

Kame had just kept running, somewhat unaware of the trickery he had pulled off subconsciously. He didn't get far though as he crashed into another person.

"Ow." The translator and the trapmaster said in stereo before realising who they had run in to.

"Wh-why a-are you h-here?" Kame asked, momentarily forgetting about the reason he was running.

"We were attacked, you sensei and I, and he told me to run away and hide." Mako answered with a flustered face. "What were you running from?"

Kame nearly chocked when he remembered the answer. He stared at the translator with frenzied eyes. "Y-you ha-have to g-get out o-of h-here."

Unfortunately Mako, like most humans, had a rather action-preventing curiosity. "Why?" The old man asked, making Kame stare at him with a stressed expression that questioned the translator's intelligence.

"B-because…" He could hear the unmistakeable noise of someone climbing up a hole with the intention to end his life; Kame's dreams were often nothing but terrifying sounds. "Y-ya-yaiba-kun is h-here and he w-wants t-to k-k-k-kill us!"

Understanding dawned on Mako's face, but he still had that damn curiosity. "Why does he want to kill you?"

Kame struggled for an appropriate answer, but it was given for him.

"Because he's a stain!" An angry voice shouted from the pit. The translator and trapmaster stared, with frightened eyes, at the hole in the ground where a hand was gripping the edge. "A stain that brings down the name of a great ninja with its mere existence." The hand pushed against the ground and Yaiba's head rose up from the hole. He continued to crawl up from the pit, the halberd tied to his back with a steel string.

The missing-nin glared at the duo with hate and satisfaction. "This is a rather unexpected turn of events. Fate must be smiling in my direction today." He loosened the steel string and once again hefted the halberd menacingly at the two. "I will be able to get my revenge and hide Tora-sama's shame in one or two quick strokes. Lucky me." Like a natural predator toying with the prey Yaiba stalked over to his intended victims painfully slow.

Kame's entire body shook. His instincts seemed to come in limited bursts, because unlike before, the poor boy was unable to do anything. The event of his childhood friend wanting to kill him for besmirching his own mother's name was just too much for him. Tears began to build up in his eyes as he slid closer and closer to a mental breakdown.

It was at that point that the trigger happened. That is to say, the event that would bring about the aforementioned change took place.

"Run." Mako said with a steady voice, earning a bewildered stare from Kame. "You were right that day when you said that it was my fault. I was the one who authorised trading Yaiba for the daimyo's daughter, and I did it for my own selfish reasons. It's about time I got what deserve. There's no need for you to get involved. Please run away and find your sensei." The translator gave a weak but reassuring smile as he stood up.

"M-mako-san…" Kame wasn't sure what else to say or do.

"We all have to face the shit in our lives sooner or later. It's better to just get it over with and see what comes next." Mako said with his back turned to Kame. "Your mom used to say stuff like that. She was a handful and a dozen, but she was one of the toughest ladies I've ever met. Now go, I'll stall him for as long as possible." The translator took walked resolutely towards his would be killer, leaving Kame to his thoughts.

"_Mom…_" An image of his mother flashed before Kame's eyes as translator and missing-nin faced off.

"Are you hoping that some last minute act of chivalry will redeem you in my eyes?" Yaiba snarled. "There's nothing you can do that will save you from my vengeance."

He did not get the response he was expecting. Mako got down on his knees and bowed down. "I realise that it won't amount to much, but I am truly sorry for the pain that I have caused you." Yaiba stomped his face into the ground.

"SHUT UP! Stop talking about what I've been through as if you can understand it! You're just like the brat! At least I'll get to take you both out at once. All because the little punk didn't listen to you." Mako's head shoot up and he sent a horrified look to Kame, who indeed hadn't run away at all. He had gotten up on his feet, but he was just standing there with a blank but teary-eyed stare.

"Stupid kid! I told you to run away." Yaiba gave the side of Mako's head a sharp kick.

"Hah!" The missing-nin shouted triumphantly. "Your self-sacrifice was in vain. That's hilarious. Now just die already!" He furiously swung the halberd to cleave Mako's head in half.

Meanwhile Kame was having a rather exotic experience. Memories he usually tried to avoid flashed before his eyes at same time as he saw the world around him enter a state of slow motion. But the really weird thing was that he felt like he was looking at himself, trying to not blink.

Yaiba was just about to swing the halberd.

In his mind the trapmaster could see his younger self cautiously slide open a closet door and walk through a familiar house. It was night outside and no lights were on, despite this darkness the boy seemed to know his way around the place flawlessly. He walked over to the sliding door at the end of the room and opened it. The sight revealed to him was basically a warzone in miniature. The room had been torn up by various weapons and blasts. Blood and corpses littered the entire place. Kame only recognised the two lying before him.

The sharp edge was above Yaiba's head.

His parents' dead bodies laid out before the young trapmaster. A wave of sorrow threatened to suffocate the boy when he noticed their entwined hands. Resentment reared its head and mixed itself in with the grief. He could hear his own voice speaking in the air.

"_They died together and left me all alone. Why did they do that? Please tell me why?_" The younger Kame looked up at his future self with expecting eyes. No answer came. The younger Kame angrily ran up to the older one kicking, screaming and crying his lungs out. Despite this no sound was heard, as if the world had been muted.

He was in mid-swing now.

Kame lowered his head and ignored his younger self. How could he answer something he didn't understand himself? He shared the little boy's confusion and feelings towards his parents. "_They abandoned me._" He finally said out loud. The two backed away from each other and locked eyes. The younger one silently demanded further explanation. He didn't know the reason and as hard as he tried he couldn't think of one. His parents had died together in battle and left him behind. The more he tried to find any rhyme or reason to it the more agitated he felt, until finally. "_I give up!_" He screamed, the past version of him still stared. "_Mom and dad died! Ok! They just died and!..._" He blinked. "_They just died._"

Mako pressed himself to the ground. It was a futile effort.

Somebody touched his shoulder and Kame turned around. No one was there. He did however see his father giving him a piggyback ride, kind of tricky because of his father's afro. In another corner of wherever he was he could see his mother correcting his kata in a vain attempt to teach the boy close combat. Similar images of the times he'd had with his parents flashed before his eyes. They were times he had almost forgotten over the last few years. But now it felt like he was able to see them for the first time, like his eyes had just opened up after an extended period of being closed. Suddenly his shoulder was touched, making him turn around again.

The blade itself was now parallel to Yaiba's waist.

Kame was standing before Kinomi and Hogosha's fantastic house in the peaceful clearing. The couple was standing in front of the house with their backs turned to him. Hogosha had his arm lovingly wrapped around his wife's shoulders and they looked quite peaceful. Then Kinomi turned her head and stared at the trapmaster with pleading eyes. Kame nodded.

The world suddenly accelerated to normal speed and it all happened in the blink of an eye.

Before Yaiba could finish the swing a black blur invaded his field of vision and he felt pain across his chest. He was knocked back and had to struggle to not lose his balance. He then noticed that his halberd seemed to lack a proper head, it was like it had been cut off. Further inspection revealed the head to be lying a short distance behind Mako. Yaiba then became aware that he was bleeding from a shallow cut across his chest. The missing-nin growled before discovering the cause of the recent events.

The black blur had since long taken the shape of Kame, Yaiba had been too focused on other things around him to notice this. The dark haired boy was standing right in front of Mako, the breadth of a grass straw separating them, with his arms stretched out horizontally and a kunai in each hand. Blood dripped from them. The boy's head was lowered so that he didn't show his eyes.

Yaiba's frustration and confusion made him yell out the first coherent thought that came to him. "What the hell just happened!?"

Kame didn't answer right away. Instead he dropped both kunai, lowered his arms and raised his head, showing Yaiba a pair of tired eyes. The dark haired boy looked up at the sky and took a deep breath, almost like it was his first. "It's really a beautiful house." He said with a soft tone.

Yaiba raised an eyebrow, he felt strangely perturbed for some reason. Kame looked into the eyes of his childhood friend. His expression was serene yet worried. "I'm talking about the house Mako-san's daughter and son-in-law has built. It's really beautiful. Please don't destroy it."

"What are you talking about? I don't care about any house or whatever." He wanted to just strike down the two men, but there was something about the way Kame looked at him that made him stop.

Kame sighed. "Earlier, you said that I can't understand what you've been through. You were right about that. I apologise for making such a thoughtless assumption." He bowed politely, and Yaiba found himself still unable to attack his now exposed neck. "But now it's you who doesn't seem to understand the situation." Kame's expression remained the same while Yaiba scowled.

"I don't understand the situation?" Yaiba repeated. "He ruined my life and now I'm going to kill him to get even! That's the…."

"YES!" Kame interrupted, shocking Yaiba. "Yes, Mako-san probably deserves some form of punishment for his past actions, but not what you're proposing. To you he may just be an object of hate, but he has a daughter as well. She will feel the pain of losing her parent if you go through with your goal. It's a pain I'm quite familiar with." He steeled himself. "Kinomi-san is a good person with a good dream of living together with her family in that beautiful house. She doesn't deserve to be burdened by that pain. So please, stop trying to destroy it."

Mako stared in amazement at the dark haired boy in front of him. "_Is this really the same kid from a few moments ago._"

Yaiba glared for a moment and then he bit his right thumb and brought it to the tattoo on his left upper arm. "So I guess that you're going to defend the old fart huh." Kame nodded in a kind of shaky way. "Does that also mean that you're not afraid of me anymore?"

"Nope." Kame answered truthfully. "I'm t-terrified of you. But that doesn't m-mean I won't beat y-you." He'd really hoped that stuttering had ended permanently.

Yaiba smirked and pulled out a kusarigama from the tattoo. "Good to know."

They moved as one.

Yaiba rushed at his targets and Kame tossed a single shuriken into the tree branches above them. A snap was heard and large log tied to a rope came swinging at Yaiba. He cut it in half with his weapon's sickle. In doing so however he activated a flash-bomb hidden on the log and was momentarily blinded.

When his eyesight returned both the trapmaster and the translator where gone and out of sight. But he could very clearly hear them running through the forest.

"_Tracking them will be easy, but Kame still has the field advantage. On the other hand, if I get in close I'll dominate him. So let's do that._" He set off, much more silent than his prey.

* * *

Mako spat out a leaf from his mouth. Being pushed to move through faster through a forest was almost as bad as being carried through it. "Why are we running!?" He yelled at Kame, who was doing the aforementioned pushing.

"B-because Yaiba-san would kill us if I don't r-regroup!" Kame shouted back, completely ignoring that raising your voice like that was stupid in this situation.

"I thought you said that you were going to beat him?"

"I will! I j-just haven't f-figured out how yet!" The answer didn't reassure Mako very much. He was beginning to wonder if the scene he had witnessed was just bravado.

Suddenly the translator felt his shirt being pulled, choking him a little as he halted and almost lost his balance. "Why di…" He stopped the planned rant when he saw that Kame's eyes fluttered in every direction, as if he was looking for something.

"What are you…" Kame slapped his left hand over Mako's mouth and gave him a rather desperate look while making hushing motions with his hand and mouth. Mako gave the boy a stare that asked why he should be quiet. The answer was a push that sent the old man to the ground as Kame jumped back and something whizzed by where they had been a moment ago.

The unknown object made an upward turn and cut off a thick tree branch before disappearing into the tree tops. Kame gestured at the tree branch and Mako nodded understandingly.

Kame gave him a thankful smile before pulling out two kunai. "_Ok, stay calm. Whatever it is, it's not entirely mute. It's just difficult to hear it. So just concentrate on hearing and… Ah, it's a trap._" He spied into the woods as far as he could. "_Make me focus on one difficult to find target and then move in yourself to kill one of us while I'm busy. Smart, very smart. Now, if I could just..._" Kame jumped over to Mako and slashed his kunai in a cross pattern, thus countering the flying threat. Sparks flew in all directions as he managed to send the unidentified object into the woods. Not wasting any time, Kame then spun around and tossed a smoke bomb at Yaiba as he jumped out of the forest.

Taken by surprise and robbed of his sight, again, the missing-nin would've missed his intended target even if Kame didn't pull the old man up on his feet. The duo continued their escape into the woods, leaving Yaiba to reconsider his strategy.

"_Right, trapmaster, or at least trained by one. He won't fall for that stuff so easily. Well, then I might as well cut the fancy bullshit._" Yaiba sped off in hot pursuit.

He found the two in a small glade. Kame was breathing heavily and holding his hands to his knees while Mako rested against a tree. "_It's a trap._" Yaiba reasoned. _"No way would they stop to rest now. But this time I'm ready, I know how your mind works now brat. You're trying to buy time for reinforcements to arrive. There's nothing about you that's changed._"

The missing-nin burst forward and jumped into the glade. Quickly before the leaf-nin could react Yaiba threw the kusarigama's heavy-ended chain so that it wrapped around Kame's torso and arms. As soon as Yaiba touched the ground he pulled the younger boy in, not giving him a chance to even speak, and stabbed him in the heart with the sickle.

The tattooed boy felt like celebrating.

That feeling didn't last long as Kame detonated like a balloon and small shrapnel blasted from him, tearing up Yaiba pretty good, he was lucky to not get any in his eyes. It wasn't enough to take him down, but it was enough to bring him to his knees screaming in pain and make him drop the kusarigama.

"AHHHH!" He clawed at the metal bits over his chest and arms and actually managed to get most of them out, giving him a bloodstained appearance.

Like a wild animal he glared at the now fully erect Mako who turned into a solemn Kame with a puff of smoke. "Mako-san is s-safe now. It's j-just you and m-me."

"You think that'll make any difference?" Yaiba snarled as he picked up his weapon.

"I ho-hope so." Kame stuttered and picked out a scroll from his backpack and unfolded it. Yaiba charged at him and smashed the metal ball through Kame's scroll before he had a chance to use it.

The trapmaster ducked down as Yaiba slashed at his head with the sickle. He quickly came up again with a kunai he picked from his sleeve aimed at Yaiba's head. The older teen stepped back to avoid the attack. Kame followed along and aimed to strike Yaiba's shoulder with kunai he picked out from his other sleeve.

Yaiba sneered at the clumsy attack and just kicked the younger boy in the gut. As the trapmaster doubled over in pain Yaiba aimed to strike through his spinal cord with the sickle. Disregarding the pain Kame put his hands together and escaped via a substitution at the last minute Yaiba sneered as he pulled the sickle out of the log.

The tattooed teen turned around while swinging the heavy end of his weapon and noticed Kame a medium distance away. He deflected the shuriken thrown at him with the sickle at the same time as he tossed the heavy end at a Kame, who was attempting to flee while turned backwards.

The trapmaster stepped to the side, avoiding the rushing metal ball. He cringed a little when he heard shatter part of a tree. Then he attacked with three thrown kunai. Yaiba dodged them all with insulting ease. Or so he thought when he heard a loud snap and a plethora of metallic wires ripped up from the ground in various formations designed to ensnare their target.

It probably would've worked if Yaiba didn't drop his kusarigama, put his hands together in a ram sign and focused.

With blurring speed the weapon that almost killed Mako a few minutes ago flew down from the tree tops and sliced all the metal wires to pieces. Yaiba stuck out his hand and caught the strange object very casually.

Kame knew he should've run away by now. But first he wanted to see if the trap would work and then he got dangerously curious about the mysterious weapon. Now that he can see that it's a glaive with three curved blades and a ruby in the core he realised what a sitting duck he was.

Yaiba started the attack by throwing the glaive so fast that it almost instantly reaches blur speeds once it left his hand. It was basically luck that allowed Kame to sidestep the attack and only escape with a scratch on his arm. He was less lucky the next moment when Yaiba suddenly showed up in his face. The trapmaster tried to escape again but his opponent was quicker.

Yaiba pressed the middle of the kusarigama's chain onto Kame's throat and crisscrossed the two sides around his neck. The younger boy tried to stop it but was headbutted and kicked to the ground where Yaiba placed on feet on each of the trapmaster's wrists before tightening the chain's hold. Kame gasp as he felt his air cut off from him.

"I tried to do this fast you know." Yaiba snarled, his bloodstained body giving him a feral look. "I don't enjoy that you're making me waste time with this… this… game. Sure you got in a few good hits, but you know as well as I do that this was inevitable. Do yourself a favour and die without struggling. It's easi… ARGH!"

A very sharp pain had entered the back of Yaiba's left thigh causing him to abruptly release his foe. Kame scurried away from Yaiba, who fell to the ground, heavily breathing in air.

The missing-nin tried to inspect his wound while keeping an eye on Kame at the same time. It was then that he noticed a tiny blade covered in blood sticking out of Kame's left shoe. "Annoying brat. Is that all you have!? Ineffective tric…" A wet, sticky sensation made him peer down where he had been stabbed. Blood was dripping out at a rather alarming pace. Seemingly forgetting that he was in the presence of an enemy Yaiba pulled out a tiny bottle from his pants. It was half filled with a brown transparent liquid. He quickly opened it up and poured the contents into his hand.

Before proceeding he looked up at Kame who was standing passively a short distance away. The black haired boy answered the silent question. "G-go ahead. I won't a-attack you."

"Then you're an idiot for wasting such an opportune moment." Yaiba scowled as he applied the liquid to his wound.

"I'd just prefer to t-talk with you." Kame defended, trying to sound tougher than he felt.

"Of course you would. You don't have a chance in hell to win and so you're pointlessly stalling." Being a person of polite upbringing Kame refrained from pointing out that he wasn't the one that most resembled a blood fountain of the two.

Yaiba pocketed the bottle after applying the liquid. "The idea of you defeating me is just ridiculous." Again Kame didn't speak and just tensed up slightly when Yaiba stood up with a growl.

"_Don't let it get to you. He degrades my abilities because he's losing and getting angry. The angrier he is the more clouded his judgement is and the worse he fights and the smaller the chance is that he will manage to kill me._" The trapmaster reasoned to himself as his left eye unconsciously ticked in the minutest way possible.

Yaiba took a few steps forward to pick up his dropped weapon. "This weakling mentality of yours is a perfect example why you're an insult to your mother's legacy and need to be exterminated." The missing-nin barely noticed the two kunai as they pinned his weapon to the ground via the chain-links. He jumped back right before the attached notes exploded and destroyed the kusarigama completely.

Kame blinked. "_Did I do that? Crap, I did!_" He looked over at his former friend who held a grim smirk indicating that he finally knew what he was dealing with.

"You're not the only one that can make people angry. But you are very clever." He said wickedly as he pulled out a sai from a tattoo on the left side of his chest. "And a lot more skilled than I'd like to admit. From now on I'm going to have to take you seriously."

A small flicker of hope ignited in Kame's heart. "Does this mean that y-you won't try to kill m-me?" The flicker was extinguished at the sight of Yaiba's hateful expression.

"No. There's honestly no way for you to avoid being killed by me." He twirled the sai a little in his hand. "On the one hand I'm certain that you will try to protect the old man. This means that you're in my way. And I will destroy everything in my way." Kame felt himself sweat with fear. "If on the other hand you would have wanted to flee I would still see you as unworthy of Tora-sama's legacy and have to kill you."

Kame blinked. "_I don't think that I qualify as the person with the most emotional issues here anymore._"

"Now then," Yaiba began as he pulled a flail from the tattoo on the right side of his chest. "Let's cut the chit chat and continue with what we were doing." With his two weapons he took an offensive stance.

"O-ok." Kame gulped and hesitantly pulled out two kunai knowing that he was going to regret this.

* * *

Out of all the scary things in the world there's a few that terrifies us all, even if we don't know it. A proper term for one of them would probably be the void. It's could basically be described as instances when we're trapped in areas that are cut of from the outside world. There's no light to show you were you are and the only sounds are the ones you make yourself. Those are the two most common elements of the void. Other basics can include restricted movement, lack of knowledge regarding the location and/or an annoying cold feel throughout the area.

When faced by such conditions for an extended period of time even the most hardened of warriors would break down in one way or another. So it's perfectly understandable that an aging translator would be reduced to a whimpering heap of paranoia within minutes.

"_Safe he says… Yeah, this feels absolutely safe… It's not like he'll forget that I'm down here, if he survives, and I'll die slowly from starvation instead of having my head chopped of… Yep… Absolutely safe… GET ME OUT OF HERE!!!_"

These were the thoughts that crawled through Mako's head during his more desperate minutes. He could actually be fairly calm and contemplative as well.

"_I'm the cause of all this. Those boys are fighting over whether to end my life or not, and I can't do anything to stop them… Kinomi wouldn't be able to look me in the eyes if she knew._"

He tried to get a grip on the walls for the tenth time but couldn't get any hold on the dirty yet hard barrier surrounding him.

"_Damn kid… Good luck, your mom would be proud._"

And so Mako resigned himself to calmly wait and have faith in the stuttering trapmaster. "_…Did I just hear a snake..? _" Ok, maybe not calmly.

* * *

It was all a blur to him. He couldn't remember who had attacked first or in what direction they had moved or when they had ended up in an open patch of the forest or how a sai had gotten itself lodged into his left shoulder.

Kame was sure of one thing though.

He was in a lot of pain and it was about to get worse.

The screech inducing sensation of having the right side of his ribs smashed with a spiked metal sphere confirmed his suspicion. A sharp roundhouse kick to his face sent the black haired boy to the ground.

Yaiba stood over his gasping opponent and smirked with superiority.

"Well, that was fun." He taunted. "Working out my aggressions on you was a much better idea than I anticipated. Now get up, or just tell me where the old bastard is."

Kame got up and was unsuccessful in covering up the pain that doing so caused him. His vision was still blurry from the kick, so focusing on Yaiba's eyes to show that he hadn't given up didn't work out like he hoped.

"Heh, you're not any good at this close combat fighting, are you?" He asked with a mocking voice before jumping back to put some distance between them. "Here you go. A nice little range for you. Just try to hit me."

Normally Kame would actually take on the challenge due to his accuracy. But with his vision still slightly impeded he decided to go for something he hoped was more surprising.

He slipped a short sword into his right hand and was suddenly gone.

Yaiba laughed a little as he instantly kicked into the air and knocked Kame out of his attempted blitz and back to the ground. The younger boy's ribs were really hurting now.

"I figured you'd try that." Yaiba said, confirming that the attack hadn't been a surprise at all. "That's the same technique you used to save the old bastard, right?" Kame didn't see any point in responding and focused on getting back on his feet. "Too bad for you that you had to use it back then. I probably would've been caught off guard if this was the first time you tried it." The younger boy didn't bother to listen; he got the gist of it anyway. Instead he tried to formulate a plan of attack and figure out what traps he had set up in their current location.

"Let's see now," Yaiba continued. "First I gather chakra in my feet to steady myself." He began to explain, which caught Kame's attention. "Then I perform a simple shunshin with the difference being that I focus all my movement in one direction and enhance the speed by letting out the chakra in my feet in a burst." His expression shifted to a dark grin. "Like this."

He was gone and Kame felt a sharp blow to his chest. In front of him Yaiba blurred into existence with his right elbow stretched out so that it pointed towards Kame's chest. Before the trapmaster could even hit the ground his older opponent swung his flail and hit the left side of Kame's ribs.

Tears and a scream of pain escaped the younger boy as he hit the ground, allowing Yaiba to once again stand above him with an expression of superiority. "I believe that Tora-sama called it Ichiro Shunshin no jutsu. A simple enough variation of the standard shunshin that doesn't require hand seals or other such things and is great for quick attacks." Kame felt as if he was being lectured by a particularly cruel teacher. "An expert or a prodigy, like myself, can use it effectively enough for various purposes while amateurs will only be able to use it for simple surprise attacks, as you demonstrated just now."

The tattooed teen glared down at the black haired boy before he leaned down and pulled the sai out of Kame's shoulder. "I learned that technique while you were still figuring out how to talk. That's the difference of skill between us. Now are you going to tell me where the old bastard is?"

Not certain that he could speak without squeaking in pain Kame just shock his head. It earned him a swift kick to the ribs.

"That's ok. Take your time. I'm not exactly in a rush here anymore." Kame looked at him with a pained and bewildered face. "I've realised that wherever you've hidden him it'll be somewhere difficult to get out from so that he doesn't try something stupid like get caught in the crossfire. That's the kind of person you are. So now I can take my time with you while the old bastard rots away. Thanks for that."

Now it was Yaiba that experienced a blur as Kame's picked out what looked like ceramic pellets the size of tiny marbles and threw them at the tattooed teen with a speed that Yaiba barely could react to.

He jumped back right before the pellets exploded… and released nothing but harmless smoke. He had been duped.

Just when he was about to return to his foe and administer punishment a shuriken flew out of the smoke cloud. Sneering, the missing-nin side-stepped it. At least he thought that he did. A shallow but annoying cut appeared on his right cheek. Blood dripped slowly from it.

"What the he..?"

A rain of shuriken flew from the disappearing smoke cloud cut of his indignant shout and Yaiba had to concentrate on not being cut to ribbons. He dodged and blocked the metal stars to the best of his ability but still small cuts appeared all over him.

When the smoke fully disappeared he could see Kame holding a scroll that was halfway folded out in one hand while the other pulled out shuriken from the scroll and threw them at Yaiba. He wasn't really aiming, just spamming them at surprising breakneck speed.

"I will not be part of the cause for Mako-san's death_._" Kame shouted as he frantically spammed shuriken. "It doesn't matter if you're a prodigy or if you can use the only taijtusu technique mom managed to teach me better than I can!" He took a determined step forward. "I will defeat you! And more importantly…" Suddenly he was gone.

Still to busy with the last of the shuriken Yaiba didn't have time to locate Kame until it was too late and a voice was heard above him.

"I will help you." Kame said with a smile from right above Yaiba as he took out another scroll, pulled a large sack from it and tossed it at the missing-nin. The sack opened up and a steel-net fell out of it.

With the short distance, the surprise of the attack and the final shuriken hitting his shoulder, Yaiba was too distracted to dodge the heavy net before it forced him to the ground.

Kame landed right in front of the missing-nin with a groan of pain. "_Good thing I finished this now. I don't think I can put much more strain on my body._" In front of him Yaiba was lying completely still on the ground, not making a sound.

"_He's up to something. I should restrain him some more before anything happens._" The trapmaster picked out a scroll and was about to unfurl it when he heard a familiar buzzing sound.

Jumping back and dropping the scroll was the only thing he could do to not get his hand sliced up by the flying glaive as it came hurtling from the denser parts of the forest. He couldn't stop there either as the glaive doubled back for him.

Kame dodged at the last second and the glaive went right through the right side of a thick tree and turned around like a boomerang, cutting down everything in its path. However, this time around the dark haired boy didn't react fast enough and was cut across left arm, leaving a pretty deep and very stinging gnash.

While Kame bit down and subconsciously stroked his arm the glaive slowed down to a stop in mid-air. The trapmaster observed it cautiously as it hovered a few meters away from him, spinning menacingly.

A dark red glow emanated from the centre of the flying weapon. Then it speed towards the dark haired boy again, only now it was faster than before.

It shredded the boy instantly when it struck him dead on in the chest. Before anything got too gory however Kame turned into a log, which was shattered all over the place. The glaive did a small turn as it flew into the forest.

Yaiba smirked as he touched his forearms with blood dripped fingers. "I've got now brat." He mused as he started pulling out his twin katanas. "No matter what you do, I win. Just like always." Moments later a chakra covered blade ripped through the steel net, allowing Yaiba to calmly rise out of it and slowly stalk after his prey.

* * *

He heard the trees being chopped down rapidly behind him. A few traps were set of because of it and sent explosions, wires, kunai and various other objects flying all over the forest. A few of the aforementioned objects flew past him, even less cut him as they did so, adding more excruciating pain to his already aching body.

"_I'm passing out!_" He screamed in his head."_I can honestly feel my consciousness giving up!_" He actually tried to raise his inner voice. "_Stupid easily rundown excuse of a ninja body!!!_" It was the only thing keeping him up.

The glaive was almost upon him, giving the trapmaster a sort of lucky distraction from the pain. "_How is that thing following me!? Even if Yaiba-san can control it he shouldn't be able to have it follow me this well without eyesight!_" He glanced down at the wound the glaive had given him minutes earlier. "_Ah, blood-seeking. So that's how it is. Well, I've heard about weirder things. It doesn't help me much though._"

He bit down when it felt like his leg was going to tear itself to shreds. "_I have to think… A plan… I need a plan… I… Screw it._" The glaive cut his robe and would've imbedded itself in his spine if he hadn't dashed forward with Ichiro Shunshin no jutsu. As he reappeared the dark haired boy skidded, spun around and picked out a kunai all in one motion.

Kame narrowed his eyes in the glaive's direction for a millisecond before dashing towards it, again with Ichiro Shunshin no jutsu.

CTWAANG!

A black blur crashed to the ground and drops of blood stained a nearby tree as the glaive was tossed off course and broke down. With its ruby core shattered the weapon's special abilities were rendered useless and it dropped semi-harmlessly to the ground.

Kame picked himself up. He ignored the bleeding. The pain confirmed that he was alive and he had things to do. The trapmaster's vision shifted between blurred and slightly less blurred, causing him to stumble forward until he reached a tree which he grabbed on to, and then he turned around to lean his back against it.

He heard footsteps leisurely making their way to him through the, somewhat ruined, forest. Kame made use of the time before Yaiba reached him to tear off the arms of his robe and use them as makeshift bandages for his new wounds and resting his head.

By the time he was done Yaiba arrived. To Kame's discontent he had brought out the two swords that were responsible for the large scars on Kame's chest. It stung just to remember it.

"Well done," The missing-nin said with a condescending voice. "You managed to only exhaust your body to the point of collapse instead of dying. In short, this is as far as you could go while I've just built up a sweat. Then again, if you had been killed by something so simple like my glaive I would've been disappointed." He pointed one of his katanas at the boy's face. "Now I just have to think a little harder than usual and a chakra blade will pierce your head. Any last words?"

Kame raised his left hand and held up two fingers, hoping that his subtly wiggling right hand didn't draw any attention. "T-two th-th-things." He assumed that the following silence meant that he could continue talking. "First of a-all. You won't k-ki-kill me."

Yaiba growled in response. "Really now. And what led you to that delusional conclusion?"

"If you w-were really going t-t-to kill me you would ha-have done it already." The trapmaster correctly imagined Yaiba lifting an eyebrow and spoke up before he did. "There have b-been at least f-fi-five s-separate occasions during this fight w-where you could've k-killed or fatally injured me. For reasons unknown t-to me you d-didn't. Also, the way you k-keep repeating that y-you w-will kill me is starting to sound like you r-r-reassuring yourself more th-than me."

Yaiba frowned as he thought back to the fight and realised that what the younger boy were saying was true, and he didn't shut up either. "If it's sub-conscious or n-not, I don't know." Kame raised his head and looked at Yaiba with tired eyes. "While you p-probably d-did want to kill me at f-first I th-think that my renewed spirit is reminding you of our ch-childhood and that you care m-more about that than you let on. A-at any case you j-just won't kill m-me."

Tense would be a gross understatement about the current atmosphere. Yaiba's faced had scrunched into a furious scowl. His hands shock almost visibly, making Kame lean further into the tree for fear of getting cut. The missing-nin could hear himself urging him on, in his head, to just end the boy's life and be done with it. But he didn't, instead he procrastinated. "What's the other thing you wanted to say?" The tattooed teen rumbled while grinding his teeth.

"It's a-about our p-parents."

Yaiba tensed up at that, and then mellowed down. "What about them?" He still hadn't lowered the katana.

Kame took a deep breath before speaking his mind. "They would be disappointed in us." Yaiba raised an eyebrow as Kame explained. "The two of us m-meet again f-fo-for the first time after s-six years of pain, and what d-do we do? We f-fight until b-bl-blood is basically pouring all o-over our bodies. I honestly don't th-think that they'd b-be very happy a-about that."

Yaiba scoffed at the idea. "Like it matters what dead people would think." He said out loud.

"So you know that y-your mother is dead?" Yaiba's attention drifted for a moment as he sneered, it was long enough. Kame swiftly changed the topic. "W-we sh-should at least honor their memories. D-don't you agree?"

"The only memory I have of your father is a strange man with hair unbefitting a shinobi. As I've already explained, I will honor your mother's memory as a great warrior by killing you…"

"Except that y-you won't" Kame said before he could stop himself. The younger boy tried to slump further into his tree as Yaiba's eyes narrowed threateningly.

"And my mother…" A low but savage growl escaped his mouth. "My mother was too weak to deserve any kind of honor bestowed on her."

Kame's eyes went wide for a moment. "What?"

Yaiba took no notice and ranted on, his frustration building with every word. "She didn't fight for me. She let a measly disease stop her from saving her own son from a life of servitude for some fucking terrorists. Does that sound like somebody worth honouring?!"

He would've continued if it wasn't for the fact that his supposedly exhausted opponent slowly pushed himself up to a standing, if somewhat limp, position. Yaiba kept the tip of his sword levelled with Kame's face, not caring that he was adding evidence to Kame's previous statement.

"I am truly sorry a-about what you've been through, but please don't sp-speak about your m-mother in such a w-way." Kame said with a soft voice. "She ch-cherished you over everything else and was far from w-weak. If her disease was what kept her f-from liberating you from your nightmare I d-doubt that it was anything near m-measly."

"Just… just… Shut up!" Yaiba screamed like a person who was uncertain how to respond to a witty insult. "You're just confusing me… You're just…"

A snap was heard.

For a fraction of a second Yaiba glanced at Kame's hand. There was a loose steel wire in it.

An uncountable amount of shuriken and various other blades exploded from the forest behind Kame's tree, which offered him a stable shelter. Yaiba on the other hand, while not in the main danger zone, was pelted by stray weapons from all sides, forcing him to back away from his opponent. He was quick enough to deflect them with his swords. But this action provided Kame with time to connected chakra lines to a few of the flying weapons at the end of the swarm and steer them to attacking Yaiba head on.

But the missing-nin successfully blocked this attack as well and smirked at his opponent, who looked like he was about to faint. "Nice try but…" Kame suddenly swung his left hand backwards and Yaiba's katanas were yanked out of his hands due to the invisible chakra lines Kame had connected to the blades with his attack. At the same time he threw a shuriken into a bush behind Yaiba with his right hand. The activated trap was a hidden log that swung out from the bush and struck the still surprised Yaiba to the ground, almost breaking his arm in the process.

With Yaiba's chakra swords safely disposed behind him Kame calmly pulled out a tiny scroll from his back-pack. "You've k-kept on d-de-deriding my close c-combat abilities." He unfolded the scroll while Yaiba tried to stand up, the wound on his left thigh was starting to open up again and it hurt like hell. "It's not been without w-warrant. Even mom was a b-bit disappointed that I didn't inherit any n-natural taijutsu talent from her." He said with the voice of someone who was remembering better times. "Then a-again, it is not her name I c-carry." He stroked a little blood on the outspread scroll. There was enough on his body for him not to bite his thumb. "I am my f-father's son." He declared as he pulled a red quarter-staff with silver ends out of the scroll. "I'm an Odayaka, a trapmaster and a damn good one at that." The pride in his voice was reflected in his smile.

Yaiba stood up, massaging his arm as he glared at Kame. He was feeling a familiar anger boil inside of him. But it wasn't the kind of anger he usually felt on a daily basis towards the world for screwing him over. It was something more childish than that. "Very cute, but some improved self-confidence isn't exactly going to improve your record against me." After all, nobody likes to loose to their minors.

"And what's with the staff? Didn't you just say that you specialised in traps, just more melodramatically?" The question was a lot less insulting than Yaiba had hoped.

"Please Yaiba-kun." Kame said with a drained voice. "I can b-barely s-stand properly as it is. Just let me t-try one f-final play before I f-faint." The black haired boy pleaded as took the best offensive stance he could come up with, it was rather amateurish.

At first Yaiba blinked at the mix of an odd request and foolish confession. Then he smirked wickedly and disappeared.

By itself the force Yaiba put behind the punch was enough to break Kame's nose. With the weight of the speed from the Ichiro shunshin no jutsu the missing-nin's strike would completely smashed his opponent's nose, and a fairly large area of his face as well. And, of course, knock him out cold, and probably give him a very nasty concussion should he wake up.

While it wasn't very glamorous or flashy it would still be a finishing move. And really, there are few things more satisfying for a warrior like Yaiba than bringing down a foe with a fierce strike to the face. Yes, to Yaiba it would do just fine.

There was a problem however. The satisfaction never came because the strike never made contact with the soft and vulnerable surface that is Kame's face. All he hit was air, far less rewarding as it offers no resistance yet it does not break in the slightest.

Frustration. Confusion. Indecisiveness. Yaiba could blame any or all of them for his mistake. In the end it would be pointless excuses. He had been goaded into attacking the trapmaster. Never once believing that his surprise blitz had been expected all along or that the trapmaster would use the very same technique to avoid said blitz.

By the time Yaiba started to turn his head Kame had already pointed one end his staff at the tattooed teen. The missing-nin started to think about how odd this action was as the trapmaster would be unable to reach him from the current distance between them. Before he could finish that thought he noticed the truly odd thing about the staff.

The very end of it was open like it was a tiny lid. Yaiba had almost managed to turn his head when noticed the small black sphere flying towards him. By that time it was too late.

As it made contact with him the sphere exploded and a thick purple smoke spewed out of it.

"Th-this staff isn't for close c-c-combat." Kame explained. "Its pu-purpose is deception a-and e-e-entrapment. In essence it is a portable and f-flexible trap." As he continued talking Yaiba stumbled out of the purple cloud. He was coughing violently, fruitlessly rubbed his stinging eyes and seemed to have trouble staying upright. "I-it was a p-pr-present from m-my father. A w-way to incorporate mom's fighting style i-into my own."

Yaiba managed to grab onto Kame's collar before collapsing on the ground. He pulled the younger boy down so that their faces were close to each other. Tired but calm eyes met with strained and furious ones. They blinked at practically the same time.

"…Bastard…" Yaiba barely coughed out with a hoarse voice before losing his grip and dropping the ground. He passed out before hitting the earth.

Kame smiled, dropped his staff and began falling backwards. "_We'll help you Yaiba-kun. I promise…_" The black haired boy lost consciousness the instant he hit the ground.

With a content smile that told nothing of what had happened to him, Kame murmured in his sleep. "Hi… mom… dad…" Then everything was quiet.

* * *

Hanmyou panted as he pushed away a tree only to find no one there. He could smell the tiny pool of blood in front of him but that was all. The elite ninja he was looking for was not in the vicinity. If he was, Hanmyou would've known.

So the large man clasped his hands together and focused, using chakra to extend the range of his already superior senses.

That was how he found out he had been lured into a trap.

The genjutsu was designed to affect all the senses and not just ones sight. So it is natural that Hanmyou walked right into without suspicion. It was simple enough in that it just cast a veil that projected whatever the user wanted on the victim once they had set foot within the seal cast on the ground. In this case an undisturbed patch of forest.

Even so, the technique accomplished its intended purpose of disorienting Hanmyou for a short moment. It was inbetween Hanmyou enhancing his four remaining senses and his discovery of the above described trap that Sasuke acted.

The blind man reacted fast enough to avoid having his head cut off. But his chest got a large and nasty cut across his chest. It stung horribly from the electricity that ran through Sasuke's sword. He kneeled down and exclaimed a mix between a cry of pain and a gasp.

"Your speed… my seal…" Hanmyou said between gasps. Sasuke stood completely still a few meters away, just looking at his foe. The large man calmed down when he realised that though painful his injury wasn't life-threatening. "How did you remove it?"

"A snake bit me." Was the emotionless answer.

Hanmyou chuckled. "Fine, don't take me seriously. I'll just have to capture you the old fashioned way." He was about to lunge when he suddenly sensed Sasuke move.

It was only through luck that he was able to move away fast enough to just get a cut across his arm, instead of having it lopped off completely. Even so, the large man was in a slight state of shock. Something was different.

"Did… did you get faster?" He asked cautiously with his back turned to Sasuke.

"No, I just stopped being lazy." Sasuke answered coldly.

Hanmyou tensed up. "I see." He sighed. "I'd hoped to not have to do this. But it would seem that I'll have to damage you just a little before taking you in." As he turned around Hanmyou's body seemed to be changing in ways that made Sasuke raise an eyebrow.

"Oh." The leaf-nin said with a dull voice. "So that's where you come from."

* * *

**And like so this chapter is over. I hope that everybody enjoyed it and that you'll review it. When doing so do not be afraid to critique it. Due to the contents this chapter is very special to me and I know it is far from perfect and I wish to truly know how to improve it. With that said...**

**Mikomi: Hey!**

**Morlin: ...what are you doing here? And how are you breaking the fourth wall?**

**Mikomi: Shut up! I want to know why I haven't been in the story for two chapters?**

**Morlin: It's just the way I built the story. Konki isn't complaining.**

**Mikomi: That's because it's still her team kicking ass. Of course she isn't complaining. Now swear that I'll be in the next chapter.**

**Morlin: Or what?**

***1 minute of ass-kicking later***

**Morlin: ...after having my teeth kicked in I've realised the error of my ways and I promise the miss Uchiha Mikomi will be in the next chapter. That ok?**

**Mikomi: It's good enough.**

**Next chapter: The fighting fury of a blonde haired girl**


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